Anyone else catch the “Three Girls and Their Buddy” concert at Clowes Memorial Hall—featuring Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin,
and Patty Griffin— last weekend?
Putting aside the enthusiasm of the fan base for each of the performers for a second, the one-nighter revealed both the pluses and minuses of the round-robin concert format.
On the plus side, fans of any of the three esteemed leading ladies got a nice sampling of work by the other artists, including musicians’-musician guitarist Buddy Miller.
Pleasure, too, came from hearing each performer fill in spontaneous background vocals and harmonies on the songs of the others.
The downside is that, with a gap after each song and winging-it stories and jokes, the concert never built momentum, ending when the requisite number of rounds was complete.
When the final song was sung, I felt a pleasant evening had passed, but none of the very talented women had delivered a performance that sent me running to find its CD equivalent.
Did you make it to the show—or to the similarly structured Lyle Lovett/Joe Ely/Guy Clark/John Hiatt show last season? If so, please share your thoughts.
Or tell what singer/songwriters you’d like to see in this format?
Putting aside the enthusiasm of the fan base for each of the performers for a second, the one-nighter revealed both the pluses and minuses of the round-robin concert format.
On the plus side, fans of any of the three esteemed leading ladies got a nice sampling of work by the other artists, including musicians’-musician guitarist Buddy Miller.
Pleasure, too, came from hearing each performer fill in spontaneous background vocals and harmonies on the songs of the others.
The downside is that, with a gap after each song and winging-it stories and jokes, the concert never built momentum, ending when the requisite number of rounds was complete.
When the final song was sung, I felt a pleasant evening had passed, but none of the very talented women had delivered a performance that sent me running to find its CD equivalent.
Did you make it to the show—or to the similarly structured Lyle Lovett/Joe Ely/Guy Clark/John Hiatt show last season? If so, please share your thoughts.
Or tell what singer/songwriters you’d like to see in this format?
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We're looking at doing more of these events in conjunction with Second Helpings, Second Fridays at the Upper Room, starting in March.
As a performer it would have driven me crazy, I like to try to build a vibe and some performance momentum, and prefer the more rock, less talk approach.
It's rare for me to have a songwriter I want to hear talk, Ray Davies is an example. But if you're not Ray Davies I'd just rather get the music. The audience really responds though, so I would say it's a format we'll be seeing more of.