Well everyone,
Jadis RULED! They were great! Once they got past a little techno problem with their intro (sound familiar, guys? they start with a tape, then...OOPS, what was THAT? LOL!) they launched into a fabulous set of old songs and new. No, I didn't get a set list, but they did four songs off Fanatic and they rest were older ones. They joked with crowd (100-125 or so people)between songs and were having a great time themselves! Gary has a beautiful voice that can haunt and (yes I will say it) enchant, and he plays a mean guitar. John on bass is a great talent too, and who can argue with Steve Christey on drums? A real treat, though, was the incredible harmonies with Gary and Martin....just amazing stuff! I confess I'm not too familiar with their older material, but they were dead-on on the songs from Fanatic...and A View from Above RULED at the end!!! They are a great bunch of guys too -- quite affable and funny as all get out to boot. When I told John and Steve that Ed said hi they screamed, hugged me, and jumped up and down!!! What a hoot! They are playing a gig in Baja next March -- ROAD TRIP!!!!!!
It was great to see Rob (Aubrey) again too! He was such a sweetheart - he saw me come in while the opener was playing, and at the break he popped in Spock's FE over the PA and then walked over..."Hey, I thought you'd like that one!"
He is so cool! Love ya, Rob!
Karnataka last night was, uh....not. I think it's a line from a Barry Manilow song, actually "It's all very nice, but it's not very good." They were OK, but they didn't come close to bowling me over. I am a tough customer when it comes to female vocalists, and despite the fact that this band has TWO of them, they didn't impress. Ah well. The bass player kicks serious butt, though, I have to say that. If it hadn't been for him I probably would have left after three songs. (I always give a band three songs, LOL!) I was definitely in the minority though -- the crowd was 90-95% men (imagine that) and I'm guessing most enjoyed the pseudo-sexual stage show by the two vocalists. I was probably the only one in the crowd (save two of the bartenders, LOL) who was not wowed - they got huge cheers after every song. I just would have liked less style and more substance. Nothing against the songwriting - the songs were interesting and I probably would like the albums, but live the vocals were just not strong enough.
Fans of this band ought to check out Dina Fanai --
www.dinafanai.com -- her band isn't quite as big (but she has cellos!) and her music is of a similar genre. Her voice is STUNNING and powerful, even when she is singing softly.
So it goes. I don't know who I'm seeing tonight. I might go for the Focus - Uriah Heep gig after all. We'll see!
Have a great weekend everyone!
