From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V16 #453 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, June 11 2012 Volume 16 : Number 453 To unsubscribe: e-mail ecto-digest-request@smoe.org and put the word unsubscribe in the message body. Today's Subjects: ----------------- Widowspeak and 2:54 at Knitting Factory, 6/9/12 [Paul Blair Subject: Widowspeak and 2:54 at Knitting Factory, 6/9/12 Last night I met Karen at the Knitting Factory to see Widowspeak and 2:54. As things turned out Widowspeak impressed me more than I expected, and 2:54 less. Widowspeak had an interesting stage presence. The drummer, clean-cut and wearing a plain white shirt with a collar, looked like he was from the period in the sixties when bands just started shedding the suits and ties. The lead guitarist had long hair and a goatee wore a tie-died-ish shirt, not tucked in, and looked like he was from the seventies; he was pretty free in his movements. The remaining two members of the band were young women in off-black, blouses and skirts a bit above the knee, not really evoking any time period. However, Molly Hamilton, the lead singer, was very much into herself when singing, making no eye contact with the audience, very shoegaze. (And a very big contrast with when she's not singing; between numbers she interacted in a lively way with the other band members, though not the audience, and after the show she was very personable at the merchandise booth.) You can sample the music here: http://widowspeak.bandcamp.com/ Very reminiscent of Mazzy Star, with softer vocals and a bit of Ennio Morricone spaghetti western. I enjoyed it, though it started to get a bit samey toward the end. For this show, 2:54 had been the draw for me, based on the strength of these two awesome Jeppe Kolstrup videos: "You're Early" (with cowbell!) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9blpg5NknU "Scarlet" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGH7bKlABIc Unfortunately, the show didn't turn out anything like that. It was the first time I can remember when a headline band didn't get called out for an encore. They just had.a bad night. It started off with a few problems with feedback, then lead singer Colette Thurlow kept getting shocked by the mike. The sound engineering was really poor... the vocals got all muddied up and washed out, and the guitars had none of the power you hear on the videos. Plus, Colette had an odd, uncomfortable stage presence, with occasional jerky half-dance moves that she never really committed to. A lot of the Widowspeak audience had left by the time the show was over, so there were only a few people left calling for more at the end, and even that subsided quickly. It was very much "girls in charge" night. Molly Hamilton is definitely the driver behind Widowspeak, and sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow really are Widowspeak. They interacted only with each other on stage; the bass player was so marginalized he might as well have been in another room. I'm hoping that the main problem with the show was the venue and not the band, so I'll be going to see Widowspeak/2:54 again tomorrow at Mercury Lounge. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2012 19:25:07 -0400 From: Paul Blair Subject: Re: Widowspeak and 2:54 at Knitting Factory, 6/9/12 Oops, at the end there I meant Colette and Hannah Thurlow really are 2:54... On Sun, Jun 10, 2012 at 6:39 PM, Paul Blair wrote: > Last night I met Karen at the Knitting Factory to see Widowspeak and 2:54. > As things turned out Widowspeak impressed me more than I expected, and 2:54 > less. > > Widowspeak had an interesting stage presence. The drummer, clean-cut and > wearing a plain white shirt with a collar, looked like he was from the > period in the sixties when bands just started shedding the suits and ties. > The lead guitarist had long hair and a goatee wore a tie-died-ish shirt, > not tucked in, and looked like he was from the seventies; he was pretty > free in his movements. The remaining two members of the band were young > women in off-black, blouses and skirts a bit above the knee, not really > evoking any time period. However, Molly Hamilton, the lead singer, was very > much into herself when singing, making no eye contact with the audience, > very shoegaze. (And a very big contrast with when she's not singing; > between numbers she interacted in a lively way with the other band members, > though not the audience, and after the show she was very personable at the > merchandise booth.) > > You can sample the music here: > > http://widowspeak.bandcamp.com/ > > Very reminiscent of Mazzy Star, with softer vocals and a bit of Ennio > Morricone spaghetti western. I enjoyed it, though it started to get a bit > samey toward the end. > > For this show, 2:54 had been the draw for me, based on the strength of > these two awesome Jeppe Kolstrup videos: > > "You're Early" (with cowbell!) - > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9blpg5NknU > > "Scarlet" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGH7bKlABIc > > Unfortunately, the show didn't turn out anything like that. It was the > first time I can remember when a headline band didn't get called out for an > encore. They just had.a bad night. It started off with a few problems with > feedback, then lead singer Colette Thurlow kept getting shocked by the > mike. The sound engineering was really poor... the vocals got all muddied > up and washed out, and the guitars had none of the power you hear on the > videos. Plus, Colette had an odd, uncomfortable stage presence, with > occasional jerky half-dance moves that she never really committed to. A lot > of the Widowspeak audience had left by the time the show was over, so there > were only a few people left calling for more at the end, and even that > subsided quickly. > > It was very much "girls in charge" night. Molly Hamilton is definitely the > driver behind Widowspeak, and sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow really are > Widowspeak. They interacted only with each other on stage; the bass player > was so marginalized he might as well have been in another room. > > I'm hoping that the main problem with the show was the venue and not the > band, so I'll be going to see Widowspeak/2:54 again tomorrow at Mercury > Lounge. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V16 #453 ***************************