Bob-Dubery
The show was at the Wits Theatre, which has good facilities - proper lighting, sound etc. Even tech guys on call (like when the piano's expression pedal starts slipping whilst you're playing).
The ticket said "20:00" (I double checked). Well, I suppose something happened at 20:00, but I couldn't tell you what it was. It wasn't the opening of the doors, that's for sure.
Every time I see Laurie Levine she has different players up on stage with her. The key thing is she picks players who do a good job for her. Last time I saw her (August) she had Brendan Ou Tim on bass and Lani van der Merwe on cello and piano. This time she had the excellent Lize Wiid on piano and accordion. Great backing. With Levine the songs matter, and Wiid added to the songs without distracting. Most of the set was from Levine's recent Six Winters album, but there was some new material.
A good starter set, strong and well received.
I knew exactly zip about Laura Gibson before this show. OK... not quite. I knew that she'd recorded that "Little Red Riding Hood" tune for the Volvo ad. Going to see somebody whose work I'm not familiar with doesn't worry me too much - some of my best gig experiences have been with artists I don't know much about. Besides, Gibson came well recommended from two friends whose musical instincts I respect.
And I enjoy the set a lot. She's billed as "American Gothic" (think of that Volvo ad) but she has more going on than that. She's out here with her band - well the rhythm section anyway. They were bolstered by not inconsiderable contributions from local session player Jean-Louise Nel on viola, backing vocals and keyboards. This got me wondering about the logistics and costs of a smaller scale tour like this (I hope the promoter found it worth his while and does more of these shows) - you have to get the band out here with their gear, give them enough rehearsal time with the hired hand, move them between cities, put them in 3-400 seater venues, charge R200 a ticket, pay everybody and make a profit. Can't be easy.
But I digress. Back to the show. This a band that are not scared to make some odd noises. Gibson (doesn't play one, in case you were wondering) has TWO mics on her stand, far enough apart that she can move off one and onto the other. The second has some effects on it that make the voice distorted and echoey. Theres more.... at one point we had the viola going through effects, Gibson's nylon string guitar going through a distortion pedal and the drummer BOWING his cymbals (with a cello bow he'd just taken from the bass player). All of this, and the bass players "funny voice" backing vocals are used to good effect, though they don't dominate proceedings. They ranged from fairly stright forward country rock to almost doo-wop with everybody singing on a deliciously dark lullaby. Gibson's songs are strong - interesting lyrics, strong melodies and she doesn't repeat herself.
The drummer was particularly inventive, and Gibson's guitar parts were effective with just enough movement to keep the ear constantly interested. If anything they all mostly erred on the side of slightly underplaying. A bit like Prince on guitar - showing just enough to make you think there was something really, really good going on, but never quite confirming that all the goods are on offer. So you stay interested. I think this is easier said than done.
Don't ask me what she played. I didn't know any of her music before I walked in, and there were no CDs on sale. Merch sales at recent gigs, she explained, had exceeded expectations and they were sold out. But I'm going to get some of her stuff and may still recognise some of the songs in retrospect (she didn't do the Volvo ad).
Gibson and her band got a well deserved encore. The second and last of these was very clever and moving. She taught the audience a simple repeating vocal line (all "ooohs" so we didn't have to remember any pesky words). Once we got up to speed on that she proposed a harmony line that some people could manage, then, whilst we kept the repeating line going, she sang over it, conducting with her hands to show when she wanted more oomph from the backing vocalists (us) and when she wanted it sotto voce. She ended up, off mic, on the edge of the stage, still singing but with our voices now louder against her unamplified voice and slowly turned us all the way down. Wonderful. (It sounded pretty good where we seating - we had Laurie Levine and Lize Wiid immediately in front of us adding great harmonies).
