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Noe Valley Ministry March 30, 2001 Review by Squid Playinginfog Fun Fact: Every Sunday afternoon, Squid crawls out of bed, procures a cup of coffee and listens to The Court and Spark. It's her little reward to herself for having lived through a workweek and whatever trouble Daz has gotten her into on Saturday night. We have loved The Court and Spark since the first time we heard them, and knew that a setting like the Noe Valley Ministry could only enhance the sound of their songs. TC&S have given San Francisco something new with their blend of country-tinged balladry and multi-layered rockin'. If anyone deserves the quiet, introspective audience that a church evokes, it's them. They kicked off with a new song, To See The Fires, that began with a loop of singer Wendy Allen's voice. It was a surprisingly electronic touch for the group, and it's effect was palpable. It was so quiet we're not sure people were breathing. They followed up with another new song, (and Squid's favorite), The Pearly Gates, which has witty lyrics that amount to a common-sense kick in the ass. It's pretty much impossible to avoid smiling when this song is being played. Our big realization that night was that it's amazing what an environment designed with music in mind can produce. The high, vaulted ceilings in the NVM enabled a song like The Ghost of Sigma 14B to sound like the musical taletelling that it is. We're so accustomed to hearing bands perform in (what amount to) big concrete boxes that being able to hear a single note carried out to it's completion was almost disconcerting. The twang of pedal steel seemed to just hover and spin over the audience forever. If you've never purchased their first album, "Ventura Whites", you've got no business reading any further. Get thee to a record store immediately, coz they've got a new album due out any second now. You've got a lot of catching up to do, pilgrim. The Willard Grant Conspiracy are a kinda special band for Daz. She learned about them on the Mark Eitzel list, Firefly. Firefly's founder, Paul Austin, is the guitarist for WGC, and we've found that people with good taste in music are usually in good bands. WGC is no exception to that rule. Together with lead singer Robert Fisher they go a long way towards creating music that sounds just as beautiful in concert as it would sung around a campfire. WGC's songs are like Steinbeck novels set to music with their tales of hard work, family life and love gone wrong. Fisher is a big dude with a beautiful booming voice that filled the NVM to the rafters - at certain points he moved the mike aside and just sang without the additional amplification. We weren't at all surprised when they ended with an audience sing-along. It summed up their down-to-earth approach perfectly. The evening started off with a set from a touring member of WGC, Mary Lorson. This multi-instrumentalist was formerly in Madder Rose, and currently has a new band called Saint Low. She played guitar and piano for her own set accompanied by the WGC's amazing violinist David Curry. Lorson has a demure but confident demeanor which helped her capture a new audience on it's first beer. It will be interesting to see where Saint Low takes her. --- Find out more about The Court and Spark at these lovely websites: Glitterhouse, tUMULt and Dream Chimney |