Indie folk lovers packed into Club 156 on Saturday February 12th for a West Coast blend of quintessential coffee shop music. Program Council was able to snag nationally-acclaimed Danielle Ate the Sandwich and Alameda after their canceled Ian Cooke show at the Fox Theater. True, the artist lineup from Ft. Collins and Portland seemed a bit out of place in the darkened grungy club, but the crowd just settled in on the floor and scattered chairs and embraced the mellow sounds not heard very often coming out of The Connection.
Local act, The Sunshine House, has been rapidly gaining ground around Colorado in the short seven months they have been established. Their mixture of wispy vocals and sweeping buildups that embrace a dreamlike Americana. The vocal harmonizing between Philip Waggoner and Becky Raab is raspy, but strong, as is their entire live performance. Even though there were six of them crowded onto the tiny stage, their presence, as well as their sound, was melded into one quiet entity.
Fresh off of their week-old debut of Seasons/Spectres, Alameda’s first full-length album, the Portland, OR’s three-piece ensemble brought a bit of a classical edge to the night of folk. With the instrument combination of acoustic guitar, cello and clarinet, the rain and clouds of the Pacific Northwest drifted into the club with warm and comforting vocals riding along.
Portland's folk band, Alameda (photo by C. Redfield)
By the time Danielle Ate the Sandwich graced the stage with her ukulele and informal audience connection, her handmade Valentines had been dispersed and the crowd had an excited but chill vibe. Danielle’s vocals were extremely solid, along with the unique sound of her uke and somewhat unusual lyrics about life and love. There was energy in the simplest melodies and chords and it wasn’t missed by anyone in the room. Even Justin Bieber…’s cardboard cutout made it out to the show.
What is easy to understand about these bands’ successes is that it’s very difficult to have a poor live performance in the laid-back folk musical arena, so it made for a very intimate and relaxing atmosphere all night long.
