review/school assignment: 03.19.01- Carissa's Wierd/Aveo/31 Knots at Medicine Hat Gallery, Sean Croghan CD release show at Pine Street Theater
NOTE: Yucky grammar, I know. Bear in mind that this was an assignment for my voice class at Portland State University.
I went to the 31 Knots/Aveo/Carissa's Wierd show at the Medicine Hat Gallery, which my friend Chantelle books bands for. This was on Saturday, March 17th.
31 knots are amazing- i'd seen them a few weeks earlier at the mercury cd
release party, and i was stunned again at their amazing and freaky tempo
changes. it's insane. it's like they splice in segments of a really fast
song, into one with a leisurely rocking pace. then splice in ANOTHER one,
with, say, compound meter. it's almost jazz (in that it's like
syncopation), it's almost dizzying, and it almost doesn't work, but it
does, and it blows my mind away. they're loud, not pretentious but rather
wacky, and they rock. their drummer is a real hoot, too. he had a mic and
would sing harmony a little. he requested that the sound guy turn his mic
up, and deadpanned "I'm a singer. I'm a singer too." in that mock-nerdy
tone while adjusting his huge black glasses (kind of like the kid from
Rushmore... in fact, he looked like the kid from Rushmore).
of course, typical for rock singers, the lead singer's face turned red from jumping around and not using proper breathing techniques. his delivery was quick, forced, but effective for the music he was playing. i'm surprised he didn't pass out later from such poor technique.
carissa's wierd was also excellent. the band had a very sweet singer/acoustic guitarist, a lead guitarist who would harmonize with him, a violinist who was very effective, a drummer(?) and a guy who played bass and accordian. the singer/guitarist was seated, but managed to focus on his singing, breathing, and so forth, to produce a light, but strong and precise vocal delivery.
oh yeah, on friday night i went to see sean croghan.
the opening acts sucked. i was counting on my fingers how many cliches the solo acoustic dude was spewing in his lyrics and came up with four in thirty seconds. his voice was all forced into a weird grrr-y contortion- he ended up sounding like the lead singer for tesla (ha ha).
sean croghan, however, was very intense and an earnest, sweet musician. i didn't really get some of his songs, but he is a very emotional performer, but kind of wry with his in-between banter. i nearly cried during one song, because it was so stark and powerful. sean sings very loud, emotionally, almost wailing. he opens his mouth wide and uses his lungs, arches his neck slightly towards the ceiling, which is something i do when i need to reach the upper ranges of my chest voice.
he was definitely challenging his vocal range, but managed to pull of the daring notes through the sheer volume and tone of his singing. unlike most pop/folk/rock singers, he did employ good used of technique by breathing in the vowel of the first word, and keeping his diaphragm open and extended. Except when he ended up on the floor singing and writhing (it was THAT emotional!).