I think the last time I went to a small acoustic show like that at T.T. the Bear's Place must have been in college. There was a little coffee shop up at one of the other schools, and they'd occasionally have local or campus bands come by to play, with an occasional (and often ill-adviséd) open-mic. Thankfully, everyone who played at last night's Other Side of the Bear Acoustic Series was far, far beyond Monday night open-mic. In fact, everyone who played was really rather good.
So, who all played?
First up was Jeremy Walters, of the Brookline outfit Yes, But Slowly (myspace page), consisting of, well, Jeremy himself. His solo, soulful sound, just him and an acoustic guitar, is surprisingly mature. Alone on a tiny stage, Jeremy's voice held the attention of the entire room, a voice that is reedy at times, but pleasantly fuzzy at the edges. His breath is readily audible in his sound, but rather than distract, this adds to his honest, declamatory sound. Highlights included a cover of the Magnetic Fields' "The Book of Love," sang simply and sparsely, with none of the lugubriousness that drips through the original.
Clearly inspired by this cover, Thom Moran, the evening's de facto MC, got up next to play a little filler before moving on to Lindsay Starr. Thom picked up his ukulele, and covered two more Magnetic Fields tracks from 69 Love Songs: "A Pretty Girl is Like . . . ," and "Absolutely Cuckoo." These were more straight ahead covers, barely adapted from the recordings, but still pleasantly played and sung.
Lindsay Starr got up next. The singer and guitarist for Retrosleeper (myspace page), a solid Boston indie rock foursome, seemed comfortable alone up on stage, easily conversing with friends and chatting to those assembled. Despite bad Monday luck resulting in a brand-spanking-new string that refused to stay in tune, Lindsay treated us to her clear, clean sound. Sadly poor lighting left us with little image of Lindsay besides a little nose peeking out from dark bangs and the shadow from a single overhead light. Her crisp voice and intelligent song-writing (and physically beautiful guitar) were especially appreciated surprises coming at us out of the gloom.
Next up was Sarah RabDAU, who had graciously told us about last night's show when we saw her at the Nicole Atkins show a couple of weeks ago. Sarah really is a wonder to watch and to listen to (official page). Seated behind her piano, it's easy to get an image of a small person hiding behind the safety of the keys. As such, her incredible range, both vocal (i.e. how high? how low?) and tonal (how dark? how bright?) is a surprise. Sarah manages to get excellent sound over a range of tones, from a coy, shy little voice to something much more confident, a course of smokey voices, and even an occasionally pixy-ish character. Sarah decided that Monday night at the Bear was a good time to try out some new (good) material, and we were glad that she did, thus treating us to a break from the music we often see, which is more practiced, more studied. She seemed vulnerable, honest, and especially present through the new music, yet still remarkably at-ease. We're very much looking forward to the album that she is putting out with Matt Graber, and to future concerts with Sarah.
Finally, Thom Moran closed up the evening. Thom writes for and performs with Bon Savants, another Boston band. They self-describe as indie/glam/shoegazer music (official page). Though he joked that his set would peak early and quickly fall off, I was satisfied and happy to enjoy everything he had. He accompanied himself both on guitar and ukulele, his solid sound (with a really nice, warm core) suspended nicely underneath.
A final nice treat was Thom's Neutral Milk Hotel cover, something rarely accomplished well. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" actually lent itself to his sound really nicely, and he thankfully didn't try to out-Magnum the song, happy and willing instead to make it his own, falling away from some of the more ecstatic reaching of Jeff Magnum's original.
There's some kind of acoustic set most Mondays at T.T. the Bear's Place, so it's really an excellent opportunity to shake off the blues and reject the beginning of another week. We'll certainly be there again soon.
