Dead Man's Bones and Ryan Gosling Haunt Shuba's with The Saint Andrew's Kid's Choir by Lee Klawans

 

Last night I reluctantly went to see Ryan Gosling and Dead Man's Bones. I know, your daughter was dying to go to the show. I know, it was sold out as soon as the tickets went on sale! I have seen many celebrity movie stars play with their "bands" and I am usually disappointed. Last night was different.  Ryan Gosling is a pretty good singer, about 2% Elvis and 98% Ryan, he takes no risks and stays in his range.  He has a very nice voice and good control over it.  He plays guitar as well and piano.  He holds his own.  He plays simply and doesn't try to impress.  He did impress me with his choice of band mates and the addition of a kids choir. 

First the kids, the highlight of the night was an amazing rendition of "Bang Bang" by  Jaimie Villar of Saint  Andrew Catholic Grade School here in Chicago.  Jaimie, shown above with Gosling, sang a haunting, spot on version that captivated the crowd.  Ok, about half of the crowd was made up of parents from the school, but she really was great.  The choir was made up a Saint Andrew's students, about 14 of them of all ages from about 7 to 12.  They accompanied almost every song and it wasn't a gimmick.  They contributed and made the songs better.  Gosling was very nice and playful with the kids and their was much laughter between them.  He really had a good time.  There was no Hollywood movie star personality, he was just a guy having a good time playing with his friends.

Gosling has masterfully put together a great band to play his slow grinding haunting doo-wop-ish music.

First off, you can read all about how the band started at their publicist's page here. Gosling started the band with Zach Shields in 2005.  I  will leave it to you to figure out how they got to Chicago with this great band.  Andye Jameson played keyboard, flute, and sang.  Good G-d she sings, she has an unbelievable voice that takes over the show in a very good way.  She sang lead on one song and I would pay to hear her sing anything.

The bass player was identified as Jason 71, he also programmed sounds.  He is a pro.  Shield's plays guitar some, but mostly drums and sings.  He has a very good voice and is a strong singer.   The drummer Ryan Shields, Zach's cousin,  was good, but restricted by the simplistic du-op beats.  He rocked out a few times, but there wasn't much room for him to show off.  Dead Man's Bones heads to the west coast to Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  You should go see them, they put on a hell of an entertaining show!