Sarah Blacker At The Skinny Pancake And Mia Verko & Rough Francis At Radio Bean May 22, 2015

Words by Tim Lewis.

I had a great time seeing music last night. After a short night of sleep, and a long hard work day, I got out at 7 and made a super quick stop at home. The show was supposed to start at 7, so I thought I’d miss a lot of it, but headed down to the lake to catch what I could.

I had not been in The Skinny Pancake since they remodeled and created the new music room. I immediately loved the look and feel of the place, and was happy to see two guitars and a ukelele on the stage, but the show had not yet started. Wow, the timing worked out two days in a row. After a short wait Sarah Blacker took the stage, accompanied by Erik White on electric guitar and backing vocals. She started off with Plugging away then followed with In Waves, the title song from her excellent new album. She mixed in a lot of new songs and a lot of classics and the lightly filled room was attentive and appreciative. Her voice was flawless and powerful and her acoustic guitar drove the songs, while Erik’s guitar filled them out and helped them soar. She brought out the ukelele for a couple of songs and ended the first set with a stomp and clap version of Revelry Of Heart. The second set started with another new one, and she played a lot of the new album. She tossed in some classics, like the killer Bad I Been and since the show was so intimate, she worked on writing a new song, maybe Burlington in the Spring. After that lighthearted moment, things got very serious as she pulled out a string of very strong songs to end the night. I love her songs and I love her voice and I loved every moment of the show. After it was done, I said a quick goodbye and headed back into town.

I made a beeline to Radio Bean and walked in as Mia Verko played some fun rock music. They are from Montreal and their indie rock had a bit of a Francophile feel. I could almost imagine Francesca Blanchard singing with them. I did not catch much of their set, but enjoyed what I heard. After they wrapped up, I chatted with a few of the many musicians who made up the packed audience. Happily, I did not have to wait long until ROUGH FRANCIS hit the stage. They were super powerful and intense from the first note. They were ferocious as usual and played mostly new songs. They tossed in a couple from the first album, and a cover of New Rose, but mostly stuck with new songs. I hung back a bit as the audience moshed and slammed, and every moment was bliss. The wrapped the night with a killer Comm To Space then I took the happy walk home. Thanks everyone!

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.