As winter nears, it is nigh impossible to remember the distant summer sun, but Emergency Services’ upbeat tunes are the perfect summertime music. Their melodies tug me along to carefree times. Filling out the smooth, cool, jazz sound with a saxophone and trumpet, Emergency Service produces unique, energetic, reggae hip-hop while controlling the stage, dancing (grinding at times) and strutting. Flowing back and forth between rapping and acoustic rock, Emergency Service offers a new interpretation of rap. Producing what at once could nearly be two individual songs, the band intertwines the melodies around each other in deceivingly simplistic complexity.
Following the energy of Emergency Service, Schuyler Fisk lulls the crowd with her folk-inspired tunes as she sways before her microphone. Although starting the set with an average song, Fisk thrives while singing Sunshine and Miss You. Demonstrating her vocal talents, Fisk produces sweet melodies, folk tunes, and rock songs. Yet despite Fisk’s vocal abilities, the majority of her lyrics are highly repetitious making for a long performance that drags on at times. Ending her set with “Miss You,” Fisk rocks the crowd with a big band/swing feel as the focus shifts to the drums, each beat reverberating through our bodies. The energy instantly skyrockets and the audience, a rude group that has been continuously chatting throughout the entire set, finally is stunned, speechless.
Sharon Little brought the energy level back down, producing a mellow, laid back environment with her deep, rich voice that crept to notes below the range of any female vocalist I have seen perform. Seeing this petite, blond girl step on stage, I was completely taken aback by her vocal power and depth. Once on stage, Little’s persona alters drastically. Suddenly she is the embodiment of a sultry lounge singer, stroking and cradling the mike as she sways her hips slightly and occasionally sweeps her hand through her hair. Reminiscent of found art, Little and her band practiced “found music,” creating instruments from everyday materials. A box on which the drummer sat became his drums, while a piece of wood and a boot heel added to the percussion.
After an evening of love songs, the man who sings of every woman’s fantasy takes the stage, moving about with ease as he strums his guitar. Master of the keyboard and guitar, Matt White easily discards one instrument for another throughout his set. In a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Matt White hardly appears the old fashioned, crooner whose songs cause me to swoon. Singing lines like, “Do you believe in love at first sight? I think you do,” “I will take some photographs so I can dream of you,” and “I can feel it in your kiss, it just gives me tender bliss,” White depicts a romance every little girl dreams of finding.
White’s true triumph is his single “Love,” a song suggestive of an old school, suave, debonair sophistication. The crowd erupts as White commences, while the bassist and drummer smirk as if to say to one another, “Girls are so easy to read. No matter what state or what city, they are all the same—sing about love and they’re in the palms of your hand.” Easily, White seduces the crowd.
Like seduction, music is about temptation and growing anticipation. So why is it that so many bands head straight to the climax? In an era when songs increasingly are becoming choruses interspersed with a few verses, finding a well-constructed, seductive song is rare. Matt White produces just that. Standing next to my friend at the show, she leans towards me to yell, “I don’t love it yet but I will. I can tell what’s coming is going to be great.” And it was. The strength, power, and passion grew into a bursting euphony of sound that echoed in the audience: stirring memories of love lost and love found ricocheted through our bodies.
