Luke Doucet & White Falcon

[Stone]

A Grand Rapids independent radio station puts on free shows called the Hat Trick Series (usually on Monday evenings) at a local restaurant that can seat maybe 100 people. It is funded primarily by a law firm (go lawyers!) and a bed and breakfast puts the artists up for the evening that they play. I've been to a few of these, ranging from mariachi bands to rock groups.

This year's series is just starting up and first up was Luke Doucet (hailing from Toronto), along with his band White Falcon. I had heard of Luke Doucet thanks to this board and another board, but had never heard any of his music before last week, when I obtained a mix put together by someone on another board. I listened to it 4 times, and grew to like the 15 songs on there, but most of them left me with the feeling that I wish they had a little more oomph to them, that they rocked just a bit more.

I decided to go to the show, and took a seat at the bar, about 15 feet from the band. The beauty of these shows is the intimate setting. Well, Mr. Doucet and his band (one of which is a member of Sloan) brought it. That oomph that is missing on the studio recordings was not absent in the live performance. He is a seriously talented guitarist and a talented songwriter. They played for close to two hours (with a 1/2 hour intermission thrown in). They played a couple covers, including Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" which was absolutely great (and much better than the version on his latest album). It was definitely worth my hour drive, and if you get a chance, I recommend seeing these guys.

Here's a crappy pic, taken without zoom, from my phone:

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/565/img00005201009131956.jpg

[ForeverAutumn]

I'm really glad to hear that you enjoyed Luke's show. I've been riding the Luke Doucet bandwagon for years now.

I haven't heard his new album, but I agree that his last one (Blood's Too Rich) left me kind of bored. The album prior to that (Broken and other Rogue States) is killer though. IIRC it was tied with Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs for top spot on my best of 2005 list.

I remember seeing him live after Broken came out. He came out on stage and said, "I'm going to spend the first set playing new songs to get your reaction to see what makes it onto the new CD. Then I'm going to drink this shot of Rye (held up glass) and then play the songs that you came to hear". He rocked out on that first set so I was excited about what the next CD would sound like, but when Blood's Too Rich was released, I have to say that it was somewhat disappointing. Regardless, I'll be picking up his newest release, Steel City Trawler, sometime in the next week.

You may also want to check out Luke's wife, Melissa McLelland. She has a beautiful voice. I really like her CD, Thumbelina's Last Stand. Which Luke plays guitar on and also produced.

Although I enjoy his music on CD, he really is best experienced in a live setting. I'm hoping that the new disk will have a little more of the passion that Broken has, that I thought was missing from Blood's Too Rich.

[Stone]

Yeah, I know you've been on his bandwagon, but I never got around to listening to him.

I bought Steel City Trawler last night, but haven't listened to it except for "Sundown" on the way to work this morning to see if it had the energy the live version did. The studio version is okay, but doesn't compare to the live one (which he said is how he hears the song in his head, as opposed to how the original really sounds).

And yeah, I've looked around the innerwebs and now know about his wife, and that Mr. Doucet was in Sarah Mclachlan's band.