Recording: Jale (almost)

Artist: Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie (with Joe Pernice and Norman Blake)

Songs: All Ready + Sign of Life + Promise [Jale covers]

Recorded at The Dakota Tavern, April 10, 2015.

Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie - All Ready

Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie - Sign of Life

Laura Stein, Jennifer Pierce, Mike Belitisky, Michael McKenzie - Promise

Something quite awesome came up in the middle of this Joe Pernice/Norman Blake gig, when Pernice invited his wife Laura Stein along with Jennifer Pierce onto the stage. With Sadies/New Mendicants drummer Mike Belitsky already playing, suddenly three-quarters of great Can-indie band Jale were together on stage.¹ This might not be a big deal to everyone, but it was quite surely a Big Deal to a few folks of the right age. When they hit the first few notes of "All Ready", my heart melted, and for the next ten minutes it felt almost like I was back at the West End Cultural Centre in '95 (where I indeed saw the band play a pretty excellent set alongside The Inbreds and Superfriendz). Michael McKenzie is adding the lead-guitar power here, and Pernice and Blake were along for moral support, except for on "Promise", where they both stepped off the stage to head over to the bar.

[No guarantees that there will be more of this on offer, but the very excellent Joe Pernice/Norman Blake residency continues tonight (April 17th) at the Dakota as well as next week (April 24th). Pernice did mention that they were trying to put together another show "with this lineup" some time in September, so Jale fans should keep their eyes open.]

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¹ Didacticists would not be wrong to note that this was, more precisely, a reunion of The Vees.