Steamboat (Cityfolk)
The Garrison. Friday, November 27, 2009.
Working late on a Friday night, I failed to make any time-killing plans for that pre-gig gap in the night and ended up at The Garrison indecently early.1 Hung out while the room started to fill in. Drummer Jay Anderson — a fine gentleman — stopped on his way by to say hello and thank me for showing up. "Ah," I joked, "I'm just here to catch some of those avant garde sounds."
He laughed and said, "yeah, it's gonna be a real skonkfest." Which was amusing but the exchange left me thinking about the tension inherent in Steamboat's good-time soul revue. There's a certain percentage of Steamboat's target audience (or, say, of potential Garrison attendees), suspicious of the pleasure principle and believing in a sort of grim musical version of the Protestant work ethic, giving the evil eye to something so overtly fun and "easy". And, to be honest, I think some people are suspicious of a band with Steamboat's influences (classic soul, 70's AM gold) because it's their parents' music.
Well, poo on them. I might not want Steamboat as the soundtrack of my next long, dark night of the soul, but I'd be well-pleased to have 'em play the next time I get married or divorced or bat mitzvahed. Y'know, some occasion where dancing and celebration is indicated.
Anyways, with a bit more time, the place was filled in a bit as the opener, Cityfolk, took the stage. This four-piece was totally unknown to me, and turned out to be purveyors of soulful reggae, rock'n'roll style. With the R&B undercurrent running through their music, they brought to mind groups like Aswad as much as The Wailers. Gifted with two good singers in contrasting styles, guitarist Jay Byrd a little more gritty in a nice counterpoint to bassist King Iyah's sweet tones, there were plenty opportunities for some pleasing vocal arrangements. Tight and sonically sound all around, the weaker link in the chain was the songwriting — but presumably that will come around if the band keeps working at it. And hopefully they will, even though with their skills they could probably rake it in as a cover act. A couple that they essayed, including The Beatles' "The Word" and Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover"2 were expertly executed. A good match on the bill with Steamboat, and pleasing enough. When it all came together, such as on tracks like "Jimmy", it even left a lingering impression.
Listen to a track from this set here.
Meanwhile, we were up to a good crowd on hand by the time the headliners were getting ready to play. I looked around and did a quick headcount of Soundscapes staff members on hand in the crowd or on stage, and wondered to myself if there was any one left over to mind the store.3 The last time I saw Steamboat, they were celebrating the release of their first EP with a marathon, guest-powered gig. Six months later, there's a new EP out — the shiny Live in Nassau4 — and another party to celebrate it, though this one keeping things a bit more centred on the band themselves. They started off like a dad-rock Ramones, powering through seven quick songs, each about two-and-a-half minutes long, before the horn section joined them, stretching things out some on "Talkin' Shame" and "Day Dreaming". That led to a frenzied run through "Don't Be Mine" — "I lost that one," vocalist Matt McLaren laughed at the end, like the song were an oiled pig at a rodeo, staying one twist ahead of the musicians. The band recovered, though, for showstopping runs through a couple tracks from the new disc, starting with "Love & Loss" (the best tune in their catalogue?) followed by their cover of Ken Boothe's "I'm Not For Sale".
By mid-set the room felt quite full, with even more dancing up front — obviously there is enough of a contingent interested in good times and good music to come on out. After a main set lasting an hour, the band encored with a couple covers, including "Lovin' You"5. And when McLaren said they were going to end with a song from The Muppet Movie, I thought we might be going out with "Can You Picture That?", as the band did at the last release party. Instead, we got the jaunty "Moving Right Along" — are there any other bands in the city with two songs by the Muppets in their repertoire? There were even a couple already-newer-than-the-new-release songs in the mix, including the upbeat "Bread and Butter", a sure sign that the band still has an untapped reservoir of ideas. Given the pace they've established, keep a weekend open in May for the next release party.
Listen to a track from this set here.
1 Although the space is still pretty spartan, The Garrison is slowly starting to feel more like comfortable surroundings. This time, I noticed that the front of the stage had been opened up some, making it feel like less of a box off to the side and more part of the room, definitely improving the feng shui. As for the lack of decoration that I'd complained about before, there was now one of those informational warnings up behind the bar ("WARNING: Pregnant women should not consume alcohol.") adding that dash of colour and style I'd been looking for.
2 This one segued into a verse from Boyz II Men's "Water Runs Dry" without switching up the beat before skipping back to the Paul Simon.
3 Perhaps they just put out a plate with some change on it and put up a sign like you sometimes see at the subway booths when the collector goes out for a smoke.
4 The disc packaging (another nice job from the Standard Form folks) as well as the recordings are a delightful step up from the goodness contained in the original Steamboat EP. Recorded live at the 6 Nassau space, the new one does a nice job of capturing some of the energy that the band puts out on stage.
5 Not that one — rather a 1973 cut by Johnny "Guitar" Watson from the Matt McLaren-approved Listen album.
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I think Sylvie Smith was working that night.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Steamboat had the kids dancing---and dressed up---at their Dakota summer shows.
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