An eclectic triple bill of local musicians took to the stage at the Biltmore Cabaret Wednesday December 14th and they ranged from the warm depth of a well practiced voice to a slightly shaky but enthusiastic return to form to a polished and cheeky set of entertainers. I am speaking of local folk duo The Reckoners, rock front man Cory Woodward, and multi-genre upstarts Redgy Blackout respectively.
Though the crowd started out small, The Reckoners were able to garner much attention from those there early enough as well as from the stragglers that came in out of the cold past the 9 p.m. start. The Reckoners are made up of Ricardo Khayatte and Christina Simpson and they have been performing their well received EP And the Sky Opened Up to critical acclaim. On this particular night they performed as a quartet, being joined on stage by Scott Smith who played pedal steel and Jeremy Holmes on upright bass.
Bringing their music to the stage as a quartet makes the story meaty. One could worry that adding a richly bowed upright and the always indelible presence of the pedal steel could guild the lily that is the flawlessly waltzing harmonies of Ricardo and Christina, but it was so tastefully done that you never lost sight of who The Reckoners are. It’s just like putting an extra dash of Tabasco in your oyster; it peps it up, but it’s the gloriously decadent taste of the oyster you are left with no matter what.
This is a good thing because the lyrics of their music are incredibly astute and charming. The first verse of their second song entitled Looking Back was one of the most effortless portraits of a woman ever created by a first verse not written by Bob Dylan. I had too much barley wine to be quick enough to jot them down, which is ironic because they were so noteworthy, but I asked Khayatte who sent them to me:
She blows kisses when she’s nervous
she rains when she’s blue
She’s a mystic gypsy women when I ain’t told the truth
She’s an automatic weapon don’t you cross her don’t you try
I’ve crossed that bridge and I swear I almost died
Its words like these that make folk music such an important genre. Poets with instruments have been commenting on the world with this kind of quiet honesty for decades and have stood out as some of the best lyricists ever to sing. I would love to hear more from these two and they let us know how we can do so last night. Go to indiegogo.com and pre-purchase their new album as part of the online fundraiser so that said album can come to fruition. It’s a worthy thing to put your money behind; we all have a part to play when it comes to truly independent music seeing the light of day. I for one would be thrilled to have a part in bringing more of The Reckoners to light.
After a short break, the night switched gears pretty dramatically as Cory Woodward took the stage. I had heard this was the first time in a while Woodward had played with a full band and the result was….good. And I had to look past my pork pie hat pet peeve in order to admit that.
Reading the PR for this band, I was most intrigued by Woodward, and I see what they were getting at but it was slightly embellished. He has a good bellow but the music was a little light. But the man does know how to work a tambourine which I love and he has an enthusiastic stage presence that is easy to watch. He did a good job of rallying the rowdiness of the troops by denouncing the shackles of humanity, albeit in a slightly fake sounding Springsteen accent.
“Even if your ears aren’t open right now, I’m like a gardener planting seeds”. Gotta love that.
You could tell Woodward was enjoying every minute of the performance and that helped get the crowd out of folk mode and into wanting to be on the dance floor. I will say that it was good, but not great. It was a four-piece band doing that four-piece thing; it was fun but it lacked that hook, that thing that grabs your guts. But it could just be that he’s rusty and that the swagger will come back in time. But no one was complaining so…I think he did alright.
The night finished off with the very hard to define Redgy Blackout. This was definitely the most polished “indie” sound of the night. They certainly knew that thing that people want to hear and peppered it with surprises like offbeat current event commentary (the gay penguin controversy), surprising instruments, and left-field genre experimentation (one song started out with a brass accompanied mambo style intro). It all worked even if the influences were kind of like ping pong balls bouncing around an empty closet.
There was great and noteworthy Paul McCartney style bass throughout the performance; jumpy, meaty, charming, relentless. The rest of it had the light strumming indie feel I have come to expect from bands described as “alt-country”. But then there was a well utilized banjo which I am a sucker for so I’d be lying if I said they didn’t have my full attention because of the banjo mixed with that plucky bass…that is until he put that top hat on, then it started to seem a little too clever for me. I dig the music but I get a little worn out by that hipster gimmicky thing. Not saying that is for sure what it was…my meter for such things is a little sensitive. All in all they had the crowd dancing and smiling so I suppose it was a home run.
Nights like this are a good indicator of the independent scene in a city. And it’s nice to know that Vancouver’s scene is so eclectic. Keeps a girl on her toes. And interested.
Review by: Jennie Orton / Photos by: Sara Read
SCENE IN THE DARK EXCLUSIVE SHOW CONTENT
CHECK OUT ‘THE RECKONERS’ PHOTO GALLERY HERE
