Kelli Schaefer and Curtains for You played the Columbia City Theater Thursday, June 30.
Another week, another great Columbia City Theater show; this one for a great cause.
Kelli Schaefer and Curtains for You, two acts who've built up a solid following locally thanks to frequent shows at CCT, lent their talents to the fundraiser. The charity benefitting from the show: Arts Corps, a non-profit organization devoted to rebuilding and shoring up arts programs for low-income and underserved young people. The set: Customarily awesome.
Schaefer opened things up, and the Portland singer pretty much re-enforced my opinion that she can sing anything, gloriously. Over the course of her career, she's navigated mournful country, folk, dance pop, and loud rock with more versatility than any three normal mortals. Last night found her in the latter mode, focusing on the most primal selections from her excellent new full-length, Ghost of the Beast, as the center of a gut-level rock trio. The album title proved a perfect summation of Schaefer's sound Thursday night: Alternately an angelic croon and a gorgeously anguished howl, her soulful voice rose above the compelling racket of her guitar like a restless spirit fighting its way out of a nightmare. Mad props to drummer Jeremiah Hayden for anchoring the songs with walloping, Moe Tucker-style directness.
Ye Olde Concerts Examiner's already devoted a lot of copy space touting Curtains for You, and if they keep playing live shows like they did Thursday night, that trend shows no sign of waning. Seattle's best pure-pop band put on a typically sharp set largely built from their great new long-player, After Nights Without Sleep. They balanced their usual precision with an engagingly rough live edge, as lead singer Matt Gervais, his lead guitarist-brother Mike Gervais, and keyboardist Peter Fedofsky harmonized raggedly while the entire band worked themselves into a serious sweat. The highlights were numerous: a dizzying, fizzy take on their perfect, made-for-summertime pop jewel, "Licorice Skies"; an urgent reading of the new album's ostensible hit single, "Daisy"; a starkly-gorgeous take on After Nights' masterful "The Wasteland"; and a drama-drenched encore cover of Roy Orbison's "Running Scared." The gig provided ample proof that Seattle's best pure-pop band is also one of its best live acts, to boot.
Comments