Josh Joplin played an entertaining set, despite his pneumonia. I enjoyed his performance, but honestly his song-writing needs to branch out. With straight-forward lyrics and consistent loud strumming, his music felt like it was missing the rest of the members of a rock band. This was his last solo performance before teaming up with Garrison Starr; hopefully a collaborator will bring in some fresh ideas. Worth hearing but nothing to rave about.
Mieka Pauley was phenomenal. Her singing style is unique - breathy, lyrical, varied, and often syncopated; even playful at times. From serene to belting, her range will give you chills. Damn she can sing. You can hear it on her albums at the swells, but you can't truly appreciate her power until you've seen her eyes grow wide with manic intensity. She could be a siren in Oedipous, or better yet God in Dogma; move over Alanis Morrisset.
Mieka brought the bassists and guitarist from her "full band" along. Mieka prefers to have them around, but her music certainly doesn't need them. Between her guitar work, lyrics, and melody, she can really hold her own. She often gigs solo, which I would really like to hear. That said, the band is very responsive and sensitive; which is actually pretty interesting musically. Rock music has a strong driving beat and typically singers restrict each phrase to a single chord progression. Mieka sings very, very long phrases. The contrast between her phrasing and a conventional rock beat is a little frustrating at first, because they're not doing the same thing, and the rock band threatens to drown the intimacy of her singing. But then she rises above them, and kicks their ass.
The concert banter was pretty funny at this show. Josh liked to tell a personal anecdote or lengthy story between every song. Considering all of his songs are basically stories, we got to know him well enough. He's pretty cute on stage, so it was endearing. Mieka also felt compelled to acknowledge her history with Cambridge (they both got their start here), but hers was a more awkwardly honest account of touring, i.e. "...playing shitty music for shitty people"; which was also endearing, I guess? Her personality on stage—blunt, no-bullshit, irreverent—is consistent with her music. She holds a lot back and tells it how it is.
