From: owner-curiouser@smoe.org (curiouser) To: curiouser-digest@smoe.org Subject: curiouser V1 #9 Reply-To: curiouser@smoe.org Sender: owner-curiouser@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-curiouser@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-List-Info: http://www.io.com/~mcurry/curiouser.html curiouser Tuesday, June 29 1999 Volume 01 : Number 009 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Susan and Kila at the Towne Crier [Michael Curry ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 19:50:39 -0400 From: Michael Curry Subject: Susan and Kila at the Towne Crier Hi all, Last night I, along Meredith, John and woj (who are all on this list) went to see Susan and Kila at the Towne Crier in Pawling, NY. Here are a few of my own opinions on the show. Despite the fact that Susan was the main act she went on first, which I gather was mainly for reasons of logistics (Kila is seven member band with lots of equipment). The incarnation of the Chanting House that she had with her included John Spurney on guitars and two new members of the Chanting House rotation, Jeff Allen on electric and double bass and Catherine... umm... I've forgotten her last name on cello. Both of the newcomers did a great job, though of course, as always, I missed Lindsay's presence. The set list was: Ballinaboula Fuck You The Chariot In London So Fair Who Knows Where The Time Goes I Know Seven Cold Glories River Wheels Of The World Albatross Son Of A Preacher Man Snakes ----- Calves (aka Seoladh na nGamhna) As always, it was an excellent performance. I was especially happy that Wheels made it into the set, though I did have to deal with Lindsay's missing tin whistle line playing in my head through the song. I hope at some point someone else in the band can be persuaded to learn the whistle... and maybe the bass clarinet too. *grin* This is the third time I've gotten to hear Susan sing "Son of a Preacher Man" and I think I love more each time. Her voice fits the song perfectly. I've been lucky enough to have seen Susan perform live many, many times and it amazes me that I still enjoy every show so much. Susan's next stop is at the The Swannanoa Gathering - Celtic Week (see http://www.swangathering.org/ ) where she'll be teaching a couple of classes! It's a bit late to be registering at this point, but who knows... if it goes well maybe Susan will be doing this sort of thing more often. After that it's time for Susan usual summer break from touring so she can spend some time recording. The first thing up is going to be another traditional album, which I'm really looking forward to. I suppose I should comment on the night's other act as well. I know for a fact that these opinions aren't shared by those I was there with, but I'm sure they'll share their own impressions eventually. Kila was described in my local paper with the phrase "the Chieftains meet Rusted Root," and after seeing them for the first time I think that's a fairly apt description in general terms (though failing miserably in some specifics). They play this sort of melding of some elements of Irish traditional music with a sort of tribal, neo-hippie vibe. The most obvious reflection of this tribal bent was the use of lots (and lots) of percussion instruments in some songs. As for the singing... well, there was one man who sang in a rather unimpressive voice but a sort of traditional style for some songs, while the other did this sort of dub/rap thing in Irish for other songs. I didn't really like them much at all. They had a lot of energy, but there was simply too much going on at once and all the various instruments just sort of got crunched into an amorphous blob of sound punctuated by whatever combination of bodran, dumbek and other percussion happened to be involved. I hear Green Linnet's marketing is calling them "the future of Celtic music" (whatever that means), and my only response to that is a derisive snort. Mike ------------------------------ End of curiouser V1 #9 **********************