Bosma, Coll, Linguanti, Jackson and Brown @ The Fort Street Cafe [Nov 16th]

Runway Studios presented us with a very special acoustic night at the Fort Street Cafe with many artists from local Victoria bands. The turn out was great and the atmosphere was quite welcoming.

Ciara Brown is an ex-member of the New Colors, and she was accompanied by Scawt Polachuk of the current New Colors. Isn't that nice? Things started off great with a cover of The Pixies "Where is my mind?". Once they kicked off Bush's "Glycerin", you would wager a guess we were going to have ourselves a cover extravaganza! Most of the covers were old alternative/grunge tunes from the early 90's. There was an original, and it was fairly in line with the others that were presented. It would be nice to hear more originals. Something that speaks from the heart. Despite a misstep during Pearl Jam's Black, it was a great set. Her voice brought an angelic quality to a lot of the dark material in the lyrics.

Some guy named Stinky Jackson played. He was an asshole, and everyone threw bottles of piss at the stage.

Next up was Gio Linguanti, and he brought a hip hop/reggae/rock flavour to the set. Two people actually danced! I would compare it to an artist like KO. He also plays in a band called Liquid Tuesdaze, which is much different from his solo work. Speaking with all honesty, what he presented was a much more concise sound than his band's catalogue, which suffers from a lack of focus. All of Gio's songs flowed together. I should also mention that he is theatrical in his set. His stage set-up included candles, vanilla scented incense and a lamp. During one song's introduction, he read a passage from a book. It seemed like a bit of a momentum killer to me, but the people that came to see him were into it. Not that I'm opposed to reading a book during a gig, it just seemed to drag. What do I know anyway?

Samuel Coll. The myth. The legend. The moustache. Good on him for his Movember ways. He played some non-Year of the Rat material for us and it was well fitted to the venue. I especially like him breaking out a cover of "Oh, Comely" by Neutral Milk Hotel. Although he told me he'd be playing his own stuff tonight, he did lay down a Year of the Rat goodie for us. Coll has a very distinctive voice. It took a while for me to warm up to it, but this is coming from someone who has seen Year of the Rat play more than once. For some people it is a bit of a hurdle to access his music. For anyone who hasn't heard Coll belt it out, it's in the same vein as Ian Curtis but not as bored. If you are having trouble, give it a chance. You shall be rewarded.

Closing the night out was David Bosma. He had a piano player with him and it really rounded out the sound. It was nothing too abrasive. Quite calming, but enough to keep one's interest. There's nothing bad I can say about this guy. A veteran of the local Victoria scene, it was fairly evident why he was headlining tonight. Consistent songwriting, a pleasant voice and pure musicianship prevails. Jack Weyler commanded the piano with vigour. The piano itself sounded just a tad out of tune, bringing a honky-tonk element to the proceedings. Still, the group was tight, so it didn't matter.

For all those who were there, thanks for coming on a Tuesday after a long weekend. For those who weren't, there are various youtube videos from Ciara Brown and DT Jackson [but he should bury his head in shame for playing such horrible sounding tripe].