Strange venue - Claremont College Auditorium. Lots of kids. LOTS. Much different atmosphere than I'm used to. And it had odd gay constellations etched in the ceiling. Whatever. Our seats were further back than I would have liked. I'm used to standing in a small venue like that, but with seats, you're stuck. And without screens to give you a better view of what's going on onstage, it pretty much sucks. Plus we were just under the balcony, so the sound was a little bouncy. Rather annoying.
Michael Tolcher opened the night. Yeah- that's what I said: "Who??" Pretty good set, but the highlight was his band. Three brothas who can jam it - The drummer Lefty was amazing, the bass player Big Tiny was groovin, and the guitar player... well, he needed a new wardrobe. I don't mean to sound shallow, but I absolutely could not get past his appearance. Super skinny kid with way too tight jeans on. Not a good combo, especially when paired with a semi-baggy "vintage" t-shirt that had the sleeves rolled up. Top that off with his big afro, and I was utterly confused. Michael himself was a white boy who had all the right moves. And he showed us them - all of them. That was probably the best part of his set, when he put the guitar down and just danced back and forth across the stage. Good at least for pointing and laughing.
No, but seriously, he was a good performer with an really great voice. I may consider buying a CD in the near future. Emphasis on MAY....
THEN comes Gavin. My suspicions that I love him for his music alone and not for his looks were confirmed right away. As stated before, I really am not shallow (I swear), but his appearance was a mystery to me alllllll night. To his credit, I *was* seated further away from the stage than I'm used to, but my perfect eyesight usually does not lie. I can appreciate that Gavin does practice what he preaches: "I don't wanna be anything other than what I've been tryin' to be lately" but he might want to try to figure out what he's trying to be right now. His hair can best be described as a current Roger Daltry fro circa 1979. It's styled without trying too hard to be. Thankfully he put on a Kangol hat right before the second song, so the mane was covered the rest of the night. But the hat was also annoying - he kept adjusting it between each song, placing his palms on either side of it, lifting it up off his head about 2 inches, then smashing it back on. It was like he was getting ready to do a hat trick, but changed his mind at the last minute... over and over and over. And a Kangol??? At least it wasn't the beanie I see him photographed in every time.
Then there's the chain... Ohhh, the chain. More like BLING. He had a button down shirt over a tee for most of his set, and I kept seeing something sparkling just under his collar. I kept trying to figure out what it was, because it was much too glaring to be what it appeared at first to be - a giant silver chain. But it was. He finally took off his button down and I actually got caught off guard and verbalized my shock with an "OH!" Yes, it was a huge silver chain that shimmered and shined under all those lights for the rest of the night. Beyond distracting, I had a really puzzled look for the rest of the night, as I squinted trying to shield my eyes from the glare.
I promise I'm not shallow.
Which again proves how much I love this guy's music. Nothing could take away from this guy's stuff. Before I dig into his set, I do have to mention that I was a bit disappointed with his band. At best they were boring. A bunch of white dudes just standing there seeming uninterested. Whole bunch of blah. Anyway, I digress....
As I've mentioned before, I have not been able to stay away from his CDs for more than a day or so. Something about it strikes a chord with me, and I was not disappointed with his live set. He sings with everything he's got and it's amazing he still has a voice after each show. He's got soul and he lets you know. Besides the fact that I'm a sucker for a guy who can play the piano, he also surprised me by picking up the guitar on more than a few songs. Not sure how well he can actually play the 6-string, but he gets an A for effort.
He played every song off "Chariot" except one, plus a brand new one and a few old ones. Throw in 2 or 3 covers of classics, and you have yourself a good mix of material. I would say the majority of the people in that crowd didn't have the album and only really knew "I Don't Wanna Be". Good number of people were like me and knew every song off the album - and then you always gotta have your true fanatics who knew every word to EVERY song. How they do that, I'll never know. He could have written a song at 2pm and played it for the first time that night and somehow they would know it.
Sang a very funny song called "Few Drinks to Fall in Love" which I found extremely entertaining. And another one called "Cop Stop" which I swear I've heard somewhere before but still took me til the end of the song to figure out exactly what he was singing. Super cheesy, but the entire content of the song is sweet.
He's got a great sense of humor and kept the crowd into it all night. I was not disappointed in the least bit by the show, and was super excited to have finally seen him. Just today I've discovered the joy of downloading live shows online, and have been sitting here listening to a few shows people have recorded while I type this. Disappointed that I missed him at a couple awesome venues last year - but I can't regret the past. Instead, I'll look forward to the next time I get to see him.
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