Swale & Barbacoa At The Skinny Pancake And Myra Flynn & The Rangers Of Danger At Nectar’s January 8, 2016

Words by Tim Lewis.

I had a great time seeing music last night. I had not checked the timing but got out of work early enough to take a long nap. I knew The Rangers of Danger were at Nectar’s with Myra Flynn opening and that Swale and Barbacoa were at The Skinny Pancake. I woke up at 7pm, saw that Swale were due on at 8:30 sharp and sent out a couple of messages to friends. Christopher Larrow replied and said he wanted to go. He showed up around 8:10 and we arrived just about 8:30. The band was not on yet so we settled in.

Soon enough, Swale took the stage. They started tuning up and the tuning slowly turned into Soft Fireworks. They let a gorgeous version of the song reveal itself. During the last part of the song Rich Haskell and Mary Wolcott arrived. As the song ended, the let it slide into Dimedrop and the slow steady intensity of the music began to rise. Fireworks is so mellow, but Dime has a nice riff and is a little faster. They followed with a gentle version of Beaten Down, though Eric Olsen‘s guitar had a bit of a sting. A new one, likely called We Could All Be That Way, since that is the only lyric and is repeated frequently, started slow and built and built and went through many stages and styles and started rocking before it crested and slid into a gentle ending. A song that I did not know, Loser (?), was next and had a fun uptempo beat that bopped along pleasantly. They followed with a stunning version of If You Get Lost and the mostly full room was very appreciative. Joyless followed and started slow, but rocked hard by the end. Another new one, Drug Laws, started a bit slow but just got more and more intense and was brilliant in it’s power and glory. That one is quickly becoming the most intense rock song in Burlington! They followed with a rocking, but not quite as intense, Everyone Likes To, then let the energy slide back down. They announced the next song was the last one and a steady, but gentle Waiting For You capped the night. Swale indeed.

At this point, things became tricky. Time wise, I assumed Myra was on at the other show and that Joe would be on soon. I did not want to miss the Rangers but took a chance on a couple of songs by the next band at the Pancake.

Barbacoa played as a four-piece with Lowell Thompson joining them, as he sometimes does. The first song was a country rock song, likely an original. It took me by surprise, but sounded quite nice. They lit into the surf rock with the next one, and instrumental cover of Paint It Black. I love when they do that. We hung out for another high energy rocking surf song, then headed out the door. Chris headed home, but Rich, Mary, and I headed on to Nectar’s.

Myra Flynn was on stage sounding great. Her band had a cello, keys, a drummer flown in from LA, a five-string bassist, and Dave Grippo on sax and cowbell. The song had a nice big sound in a groovy funky rocky sort of way. When they wrapped up the song Myra said they would be back for a second set. Rats, we should have stayed for all of Barbacoa’s set.

The three of us chatted for a bit in the break, but soon enough, Myra and the band we back on stage. The music had a sweet sound and the band were super tight. Her voice was tremendous and she was an engaging front-woman. Everything about the show was great. They played a half dozen songs that took their time and worked the grooves. The mostly full room was enthralled and having a great time. The set was so well received, after they wrapped up the last song, the audience demanded an encore. The band agreed and kept the party going.

There was a bit of time between when they ended the set and the Rangers started, but it was not too bad of a wait at all.

Joe Adler & The Rangers Of Danger hit the stage with a full band and a wonderful version of Brothers And Sisters. They had Joe Adler on the card deck guitar and lead vocals. Eric played lead guitar. I did not know the bass player or drummer, but they were solid all night long. I did not know the keyboard player, who also played trombone on a couple of songs, but did recognize Jake Whitesell :on sax. Samara Lark Brown added some great backing vocals, and during that slow part in the late middle of the song, Johnnie Day Durand‘s musical saw sang ethereally. As the show went on, Aya Inoue came up to sing backing vocals on a couple of songs, a couple of rappers, who also played with Myra, joined the fray. Myra’s drummer came up for one song to play the two snares and cowbell, and man was he good. Matthew Bryan Hagen played his theremin on a couple. The set was mostly from Joe’s solo album. Many A Girl was a fun romp. Relax was mellow fun with a nice groove. The Mime was a solid rocker. A Quiet Pun was a slower rocker with a great lyric. New ones like Little Bird and Midnight Jones And The Jimmer were great to hear. A cover of Walk On The Wild Side was super fun and they wrapped the set with a ripping version of Mirror Mirror.

I got a ride home from Rich and Mary and am so glad I put in the effort to see all of that great music!

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