Here’s the concert report.
Po’ Girl – I saw them last Thursday at Club Passim, the night after the big storm we had Valentine’s Day. A guy named JT Lindsay from Chicago opened, and he was pretty good. I got seated at a table right in front of the stage. They are Canadian, from the Vancouver music scene, and touring in a big white SunSeeker RV from Canadream.com. They said they’ve been getting lots of “You should go to Florida” as they tour around storm-ridden Canada and New England. (Alas for you, they are not going to Florida.) They played a lot of good stuff from their new CD (it was their CD release show for Home to You) and some old favorites. The band has a lot of chemistry and brings a range of instruments to play. I love their folksy bluesy sound.
Band notes: Po’ Girl is Allie, Awna, Trish, John and Diona. John, the drummer drew some comments. While hey were setting up, one of the women I was seated with remarked, “I wonder what it’s like to be the only male drummer in an all girl band. That must be interesting.” Knowing glances with her friends were exchanged when John and Awna gave each other a quick squeeze before back going on stage after the setup. Jolie Holland is not in Po’ Girl. She was in The Be Good Tanyas and then went off on her own. Trish Stein of Po’ Girl is still in The Be Good Tanyas.
Rickie Lee Jones – She played Sanders Theatre at Harvard on Saturday. She mostly did new material from her new CD, The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard. A religious theme, and very soulful. She was cool as ever. She opened alone at the piano, then brought out her full seven person band, and ended with a duo, her partner playing what appeared to be some sort of Macintosh laptop enhanced guitar. No encore. I love that she doesn’t save material for the contrived spontaneous encore.
Band notes: People commented on the hand and verbal directions Rickie Lee Jones was giving her musicians and sound guy throughout the show. It’s clear who is in charge. She reminds me of the old time band leaders, like Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.
