Village Cafe again

Last night's performance was a bit of a disappointment. It started quite late and there were no live musicians for the groups. That seems a bit of a break with past Tuesday nights. The crowd was a lot more sparse, too.

The early people, Champani and Jah Vision were kind of raucous reggae guys who were not musical. Neither one of them could carry a tune.

In the middle there came a couple of guys who were better singers. They were both singing stuff that the crowd knew well. There is a lot of hooting in the crowd background when somebody hits a line that touches people. Not sure what that means exactly but it is good.

The two ending acts were really the highlights of the night. To Isis is an all male group with a couple of twins who can really sing. It is really strange to listen, because one will take the lead with the other one harmonizing, then the other one takes the lead. When they change it almost doesn't register because their voices are the same. They are really good, as was the rest of the group. It is really nice to hear harmony come into play. Their hottest song was Ghetto Pain, from 2006. At times they sing a capello in harmony. That's the best. Here is a link to something they did for Juici Patties. It will give you a taste of what they do with harmony.

After To Isis came Amique. His voice is really good and he sings his own songs from the heart. But he looks like a frog. He seems to sing a lot about his recently passed mother. To Isis joined him onstage to back him up for his final song.

This is the second time we have seen To Isis and Amique. They sang at an earlier Village Cafe Tuesday backed by musicians. For me that was better. You have to see the joy that the musicians exude while playing to understand. I think it brings a lot to the performance.