Language Arts, Wednesday July 18, 8pmArgyle Fine Art Sound Gallery Series
Vancouver-based Language Arts will hopefully return to Halifax soon, perhaps on a bill in a club, because they’re ready for it.
They certainly attract a crowd, judging from the enthusiastic folks on the stairway and some seat-dancers down the middle. All got smiles from Language Arts vocalist/guitarist Kristen Cudmore.
Cudmore, the native Nova Scotian (from New Minas), was a treat to listen to and to watch. Picking mostly (but strumming as well) notes on her nylon-stringed classical guitar, she played some beautiful melodies while delivering a torrent of lyrics. (She has that sing/talk style that sounds smart and sweet.) You can hear careful crafting in the words and their delivery.
“Either Way” and “Running at Sunset in a Moonlit Town” showed off Cudmore’s skills, and that was just in the first set.
She joked how the band was “smoking through” the songs in the first set. They did seem to be playing a little ahead of Cudmore’s comfort zone at times, especially during a song called “Stolen Laundry,” though that was a newer, untested tune. And they had a substitute drummer in the band, Neil MacIntosh. In the end, the speed wasn’t enough to detract from the performance. Michael “Finn” Vaughan demonstrated how warm and robust the double acoustic bass can sound, especially in a wood and brick interior. And he showed how you can rock the big instrument. He and keyboardist Matt Dawson, who seemed to take more of a backseat than he does on their self-titled album, traded off one another during one song.
It’s great to go to a new venue too for the Jazz Festival. Though a word of advice to the gallery owners: put away the work, at least the ceramic pieces that jut out into heavily trafficked areas. That could’ve been bad news, man. Also, the bulk of the crowd sat under a low ceiling and it got pretty stuff under there. Not sure if another configuration could work, but it may be worth looking at.
