Isla Craig, Colin Fisher, Emma McKenna Rooftop Concert Review
Intimate shows can be bad, we all know, due to one’s closeness to the performers. Each bum note or flubbed chord can be heard, the audience may see every sheepish expression on the performer’s face, what can pass as a joke in a crowded bar might fall flat, and so forth. Frankly, however, on a Saturday night with EMN soon to follow, I hardly cared, wanted just to have a drink, relax. I arrived at the prescribed time to the rooftop on which Isla Craig and Colin Fisher were to play, and found myself among three or four others. Thirty minutes passed, a few more people trickled in, on the adjacent roof lay scattered two guitars, a harmonium, a mixer, not much else, and I realized this would be a much smaller affair than I had imagined.
Colin Fisher was the first to take the stage, and he fed his guitar through echo, delay, and loops, creating a fabulous array of atmospheric sounds, effects, and harmonized melodies. I had heard good things about this pathological collaborator, who seemed to play with every musician in the city and manage to produce interesting works with all, and had a chance now to see him in person. For a good thirty minutes, he alone held a small audience (which never grew over twelve or fourteen) in the palm of his hands. Sometimes I heard shades of rockabilly in his inflections or choice of effects, on other occasions I was reminded more of Slowdive, in the long held notes, swooping and flanging. It made us forget another, sometimes louder party in the nearby alley, hosted by a group of rude boys (who weren’t so rude, actually).
But the sounds became much more interesting when Isla Craig joined the fray. Her first additions were wispy drifting vocals over Colin’s shoegazing guitar; due to superb choices in notes and phrasing, this sounded beautiful. Eventually, the noodling dwindled and the pair fell into an actual set, with the song “Marbles,” which is included below for your listening pleasure. It is a soulful melody. Three or four very long songs later, they finished with a rollicking rendition of “Birds in Flight,” with Colin chicken-picking his way through some lovely lines on the guitar.
The final act of the night was Emma McKenna, whom I had never heard of, but whose voice is “like Joanna Newsom’s,” someone echoed my thought with a whisper to his friend. Squealing like a cat (or Kate Bush), it would through jump up into the highest ranges before falling to careful, crashing chords, or a soothing melodic line. Though her set was the shortest, and her technical problems the greatest, her lyrics stood out best in some ways, were punchier, I thought. And yes, there were a few flubbed notes and sheepish faces on everyone’s part, but these only seemed to enhance the intimate quality of the show.
Isla Craig–Marbles
Colin Fisher–Olive
Emma McKenna–Shadows
Tags: concert
