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What do you get when you mix the summer
solstice, a great bar that features live music,
Sheena Metal, the Malibu Rum Girls, great drink
specials and a posse of some of the most talent
singer-songwriters in Los Angeles? Eggzactly!
You get Shena Metal Presents the Fourth Festival
of The Egg at Moonshadow (10437 Burbank
Boulevard, North Hollywood), that’s what!
Sheena Metal (www.sheena-metal.com)
not only produced the event but she also hosted
it as well. She is an incredibly charismatic
personality. Her presence at the microphone as
she introduced the performers truly gave the
event a glistening shimmer. Bravo.
As for Moonshadow, well, it is a great place to
see live music, not only because of the cool
vibe that emanates from the cool folks that hang
there but also because of the layout. You see,
there is a huge room dedicated to the bands and
it is separated from the rest of the bar and the
pool tables. So, if you feel like shooting some
pool, for example, you can do it and still hear
the music because the PA system is wired
throughout the club. (Your ears can do
something different than your eyes.)
First up for the Festival of The Egg was
singer-songwriter Diane Falcone (www.dianefalcone.com)
who was accompanied by Andy Catt on guitar and
backing vocals. Diane is a shy beauty with a
strong beautiful voice that is rich and
revealing of the emotions expressed in her love
songs. Most of her material dealt with
relationships. Nice. She is a decent guitar
player, too. But Andy Catt is an animal on the
guitar. For most of the set he was the only
guitarist (freeing Diane to sing her heart out)
and he thoroughly displayed his ability to
perform variations over the chord progressions
of the material. The varying of the texture of
the songs through strummed passages and
arpeggiated progressions kept the material
vibrant. He also showed versatility and depth
by using different guitars (nice double neck
acoustic, breaux). They played very well
together and of their seven song set, the
strongest was probably “Wishes.”
Next up was Dina Gathe (www.dinagathe.com).
This chick rocks. She has a huge voice, killer
guitar chops and an in-yo-face stage presence
that is infectious. She was accompanied by
percussionist P.K. and together they locked in
and assumed full command of the Moonshadow
Groove for the duration of their set. Dina’s
songs are written and delivered with an intimate
bare bones honesty and energy that is
reminiscent of Melissa Ethridge but with a voice
as big as K.D. Lang’s. Every song in her set
was full and strong. “Harmony,” about a
relationship between opposite personalities,
opened up with a cool, funky riff and then
blasted into a full on strummer. “Is My
Everything Enough?” was a naked exploration of
the insecurities we all have faced at one point
or another when involved in an intimate, loving
relationship. This had a very strong and direct
chorus that was chock full of emotion. “The
Sweeter Side” was built on a cool two chord vamp
that did eventually evolve into a full throttle
strummer and then eased back down to the ground
again and back to the vamp. It sounded like
something Dido might have wanted to cover. Dina
Gathe is an incredibly talented, all around
performer with a unique style and a catalog of
well-crafted songs.
Musical comedienne Shari Netherland came up next
and she was armed with a ukulele. That’s right,
pilgrims, a ukulele. She sang hilarious
original comedy songs such as “I People Don’t
You”, “Did the National Geographic Make Me A
Lesbian” (on guitar), and “Word Rap” to the
canned, miked hip-hop groove of a Casio Mini
Keyboard. Shari Netherland is clever, funny,
original and injected an el grande dose of fun
into the Festival of The Egg.
After Shari came the duo of Cyhndi More and
Denise Vasquez (www.denisevasquez.com).
These ladies complemented each other very well
in every way (easy on the ears and easy on the
eyes). More is an alto and Vasquez is a
soprano and they blended beautifully. They
alternated with one another’s songs throughout
the set: one by More, the next by Vasquez, etc.
The first song, by More, called “Center” is an
incredible song about constantly turning towards
the center in an odyssey towards the truth.
Vasquez played guitar for the entire set and
even sang one song solo, “Frame of Mind,” which
is a new song that she wrote about her current
situation. “Let It Fall” by More, is also a
really great piece about what is happening in
the world. These ladies shared a psychodelic
sound that was due to the guitar effects used by
Vasquez and also their open whole-note harmonies
that soared over the rhythms of the songs.
Both of these performers are strong, independent
talents in their own rite.
Riddle The Sphinx (www.riddlethesphinx.com)
took the stage next and unleashed their
incredible sense of originality and intensity.
Led by Cris Cargill on piano and vocals, this
band is one of the most unique bands in Los
Angeles. Her piano playing is on the lines of
Tori Amos. Flowing, grinding and churning
through well-written songs with intense vocals
and swirling melodies. Riddle the Sphinx is a
full band, but on this evening, the incarnation
of the band was made up of Cargill and Chris
Pellani on percussion and Brooke Wilkes (www.brookewilkes.com)
on backing vocals. Pellani is a master
percussionist and plays in interesting rig of
exotic drums and percussion instruments.
Williams has a voice with the power of Cargill
and seemed to stay in the upper range throughout
the harmonies shared during the set. Every song
was a killer but most notably would have to be
“Mirror Fallin,” “Funhouse” and “Judgment Day.”
Riddle the Sphinx is the band to see in Los
Angeles.
Also performing in the Fourth Festival of The
Egg was Deborah Bishop (www.deborahbiship.net
), Sean Wiggins (www.seanwiggins.com),
Gilli Moon (www.gillimoon.com)
, Annette Summersett (www.annettesummersett.com)
and Angela Euber. For more information about
Festival of The Egg, log onto
www.sheenametal.com.
Copyright 2004 Scott Detweiler. All Rights
Reserved.
Scott Detweiler is an accomplished musician in
his own rite and has just released his fifth
CD. For more details, log on to
www.detweilermusic.com, or write to scott@detweilermusic.com.
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