While it’s my opinion that the Hotel Cafe is of no real need for explanation, it is also safe to assume that is it possible that it may have slipped under the radar of a reader or two. The venue, which started as nothing more than a downtown coffee shop in Los Angeles, has spun into one of the most respected venues in the nation. It aimed to give artists a place where they could feel comfortable and free of the grinding competition created by the recording industry. It’s reputation of a friends first environment helped create a unique setting for artists to hang out and even join their peers’ sets. This brotherhood style show caused such a stir that, in 2004, the venue launched a national tour.
Not to let their creativity be overshadowed by the mundane business as usual style of a tour, Hotel Cafe instead made the choice of going with a round robin style tour: each singer performs two songs before passing off to the next artist. This style is repeated in two sets, allowing each artist a total of 4 songs. By the end of the evening, the tour becomes more of a sing-a-long, as artist join each other on stage to create a one of a kind “songwriter circle” style show.
The Winter Hotel Cafe Tour of 2008 is no exception to that rule. Sporting an all lady cast for the first time, the girls put together a show that put to shame most of what I’ve seen this year. Check out some of the highlights:
With a voice bigger than Duffy’s and more talent than Amy Winehouse, Alice Russell is nothing if not talented. Her style seems borrowed from legends like Aretha Franklin and Eva Cassidy, with jazz influences bordering on blending into funk and even slight moments of soul.
Her stage presence blends an interesting mix of awkward personality with a strong sense of confidence. Her set seemed to come from a shy girl you find in the back of the classroom in high school, who’s booming voice catches you off guard when you see her open her mouth to sing in the school play.
Ending her four song set rather strongly with a cover of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”, Russell managed to turn a few heads as the night’s opener, while setting the tone for what would be a excellent night of music. Look for her album, Pot of Gold to show up in stores on November 24th. Having heard it already, I personally would advise you to check it out.
As if being adorable isn’t enough, Jaymay also represents everything good that is happening in the American folk singer circle. Combining a charming grasp of comedy with a fundamental grasp of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, she manages to flawlessly find a way to reach the listener through her acute ability to tell a story without slipping into the act of becoming preachy. For example, her set included both the heavy subjected “Blue and Grey”, a song about adoring a person who has the inability to love you back and a tribute to the movie What about Bob. Somehow, she manages to make a show full of breakup songs seem uplifting and fun.
Her album, Autumn Fallin’ has been out just short of a year now, and can be found in stores nationally. Also, look for her new EP, 10 Under 2 to drop in the coming months.
Completely different than everything else on The Hotel Cafe tour this year, Havnevik’s sound slides more towards the Imogen Heap side of songwriting. Her sound, which is wrapped up in electronic style sounds under fairly tumultuous lyrics, has more of a haunting effect to it than the rest of her company on stage. However, her use of computers and electronic gadgets shouldn’t be taken as an indication of her inability to play instruments conventionally. Growing up, she desired a career as a classical or jazz musician, even moving to Liverpool at age 19 to study music and composition.
On stage, her rich voice and creative computerized loops compliment her obviously intelligent and outgoing personality. Though not necessarily a perfect fit for all people, those who take the time to gather the best of Kate Havnevik, rather than just writing her off for being different, will not be disappointed.
In the eight months since I last saw Meiko, her career has blossomed into an all out frenzy. Being picked up by Myspace Records, her newly rerecorded and remastered versions of the songs found on her self-titled album found their way to the tops of the iTunes charts, while Meiko herself found guest spots on both “The Bonnie Hunt Show” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien“. What has not changed, however, is her uncanny ability to win the hearts of the crowd. Her bartender style of charm and girl next door technique to stage presence makes her overwhelmingly talented and approachable.
Without question, Meiko’s rendition of her newest single “Boys with Girlfriends” was hands down the catchiest number of the evening. Laced with hooks to keep your attention and organ parts designed to stay stuck in your head for weeks, I have little doubt big things are in Meiko’s future.
Check out the video for “Boys With Girlfriends” here:
Welcome to the next generation of girl power.
Honestly, few women in music rock harder than Thao. With limbs flying and her body shifting, she shimmies around the stage, strutting in time with her songs. Her intensity and energy on stage are matched only by the talent in which she plays. Unlike a number of artist who simply sub stage antics for actual songwriting accountability, Thao’s set is powerful, tight rhythmically and musically toned. She has without question honed her craft into a fairly marketable signature sound.
Her in-your-face approach to music was hands down the most entertaining of the evening. It was perfectly clear to everyone that her set would be a “no bullshit, no fluff” set. Furthermore, it is certainly possible to picture Thao filling the shoes of the strong, girl rock role previously employed by the likes of Karen O, Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde.
And you can’t really go wrong with that can you?
Rachael Yamagata’s songs are emotional on a level that most people can never achieve. Her raw style of songwriting, achieved in part by the “lonely girl at her piano” effect of her set, leaves listeners with nothing more to do but sit and listen to her spill her pain. While
some artists lose listeners in this manner, it essentially seems to work in Yamagata’s favor: her listeners seem to bond with her, relating completely to what she is going through.
Of the emotional content of her song, she states, “I’m not always thinking of the particular experience that I wrote it about because over time, things do change for me. I don’t weather it so harshly. But I always plug in my sort of present day view of the world into those songs and then when I can’t talk to a friend about it or make sense of it to myself then I kinda channel into a fitting song, that sort of lyrically embodies that same thing just in my present day. Because for me, it’s very kinda therapeutic.”
This sense of therapy could be seen on stage, at the hands of her first single, the lyrically heavy “Elephants”. Watch the video:
All pictures from this event:
For more on the Hotel Cafe Tour, you should check the website of the venue itself. Several dates still remain and tickets are still very much available. In the meantime, please take a second to check out the MySpaces pages and websites of the above musicians to hear the beauty and power in their music yourself.
Alice Russell: myspace | website
Jaymay: myspace | website
Kate Havnevik: myspace | website
Meiko: myspace
Thao Nguyen: myspace | website | @ First Unitarian Church | @ Electric Factory | @ Terminal 5 | interview with
Rachael Yamagata: myspace | website | Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart review | interview with
My thoughts from the show:
Kate was very nice, but I personally find it to be a cardinal sin to play with prerecorded backing vocals. Your choices as an artist in this regard are:
1) Rearrange the song so backing is not needed (and maybe take advantage of the extremely talented studio band behind you?!?!)
2) Skip the song
3) Buy some looping equipment, and go Bill O’Reily: FUCK IT, WE’LL DO IT LIVE!
4) Just stay home
Seriously. You don’t get a second chance on this. I’ve seen two artists do this: Only Son, and now Kate. Blackballed.
Meiko, dear: Lights are important. If you make them turn them off (“sexy lights” as you called them) then you only get blurry or ugly pictures. I can shoot low light, but not that low. Look at Rachael. See how pretty she looks? You could look like that too if you KEEP THE LIGHTS UP!
Thao, don’t be swayed by Meiko’s lighting choices. Stay away from the dark side.
Awesome review of the show – I agree with everything you said!
I also agree that Meiko was the standout performer.
Hey, admin, it was a live show, not a photo shoot! Get her into your studio if you wanna take purdy pics! Mood lighting is important