For me, the sound in Christ Church has sucked, and it’s
sucked for years: relegated to a kick drum-induced boom-a-thon and vocals that
were so reverb-drenched that they sounded backwards. It’s never been the
soundman’s fault; it’s just the big room.
Well I’m here to tell ya, that’s
all changed with Gwyneth Herbert’s positively riveting performance. She
was playfully curious with a ukulele and kazoo while not coming on too
child-like — it was exploratory but not lost in space. And the woman has the
range of a Theremin, her ultra-high notes pinging off the ceiling and
dislodging pieces of the Word of God that have been stuck up there since
Easter. Of the let’s say top 10 singers I’ve ever seen, Herbert is two of them.
Gwyneth Herbert will perform again Tuesday, June 28, at Max
of Eastman Place. 6:15 p.m. and 10 p.m. $30 or a Club Pass will get you in.
Next I took a detour, on my way to get ice cream, through the
Big Tent where The Revelers were revelatin’
loud and proud Louisiana-style, with a nice Creole, see-saw version of
“Clementine” — “Oh my darling, oh my darling …”
Bill Kirchen, the Telemaster, the former Lost Planet Airman, was bangin’ and twangin’ outside at Abilene
Bar and Lounge, so I slid off the grid to take a gander. Kirchen
is a no-frills player — waxing cooler than the Harro
East Ballroom’s air-conditioning — even though he frequently spanks the plank
like a maniac. He looks and sounds as he always has: rail-thin and rockin’. Even though, as he intoned in his last tune, “The
times, they are a-changin’.
Bria Skonberg is performing Tuesday night, baby!
This article appears in Jun 22-28, 2016.
