No one would ever be able to fault First Avenue for not offering a wide variety of shows in the mainroom, but last night's show with Scala and the Kolacny Brothers felt like something First Avenue rarely sees - cover music, an all-girls choir, and two very enthusiatic Belgian brothers.
There was the impression that tickets to the show hadn't sold well - there were several contests in the days leading up to the show, on the day of the Electric Fetus was offering $1 tickets to the show (which was originally priced at $22 - ouch), and when the Twins game was cancelled due to rain, anyone with a Twins tickets was given free access to the show.
As soon as you entered First Ave, it was apparent that this was going to be an entirely different show. The main floor was filled with tables, covered in candles and white linen. The first guests through the door took the seats up front, but table space remained ample throughout the venue until almost immediately before the show started.
To top the oddness of the situation off, there was no opening band. Quietly, twenty four young women filed onto the stage, plugged in their small microphones, and the music began.
If they were at all phased by the turnout, it didn't show. They performed the first couple songs alone on stage, with music piped in, but without a conductor or accompanist. Later, the Kolacny Brothers joined them - Steven on the piano and Stijn ethusiastically guiding the choir through both covers of popular music and Steven's orignal pieces - and both joked with the crowd while the girls remained quietly in the background, waiting for their next queue.
Not every song was knocked out of the park - a cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" seemed to fall flat, sadly (although, this is a tough town for Prince covers). But Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know," The Police's "I'll Be Watching You," and Radiohead's "Creep" (featured in last year's The Social Network trailer) hit the spot.
And, surprisingly, many of the Steven's original works were shining moments in the show. Given that the group is best known for their covers, it would be easy to assume that those familiar songs would be the biggest crowd pleasers. However, the original piece that ended the main set was, without a doubt, the highlight of the show - even the girls in the choirs seemed to be itching to dance (as opposed to the very cute, but very choreographed, cover of KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree").
Overall, it was a fun show - perhaps not surprising that it didn't sell out First Avenue, but certainly worth more attention that it apparently received. Hopefully the word will spread and the choir will come back to town & play for a mainroom that is crammed with people, not tables.
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