THE STRUMBELLAS with GRAYDON JAMES & THE YOUNG NOVELISTS and HAMILTON TRADING CO. at The Rivoli, Friday, February 17. Rating: NNNN
The Rivoli was too small to contain the crowd trying to get in to see the Strumbellas launch their debut album My Father And The Hunter. The bluegrass-gospel-punk crew have been garnering a fair chunk of buzz for their uplifting sing along songs about death, and banjo player James Oliver joked that the room was also full of family and friends from the band’s hometown, Lindsay.[brierbreak]
Keith Hamilton and his earnest thirteen person indie-folk choir Hamilton Trading Co. opened the evening with a mostly a capella set – a messy thing to attempt in a loud room but it worked when they sang something the audience knew (The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down). By the end of their set the choir was meeting the crowd’s energy with forceful vocals, stomps and handclaps.
Poppy folk-rockers Graydon James & The Young Novelists were in fine form, and were thankfully loud enough for the room. James and his wife Laura Spink, along with bassist Shawn Jurek , even managed to get the crowd involved in a fairly complicated three-part sing along breakdown.
Strumbellas singer/guitarist Simon Ward prepared for the occasion by taking off his Australian Boot Company boots and his socks before the band got started. In a set that went by too fast, the seven-piece flew through most of their album, adding Elephant Tree, which didn’t make the disc, Corin Raymond’s 3000 Miles and a Ryan Adams cover, Let It Ride (Ward’s a huge Adams fan, apparently).
Though Ward’s gravely lead vocals sometimes crossed over into pitchy territory, the group’s collective energy was undeniable. There was a lot of love in their shouted off-mic gang vocals, urgent instrumentals and flailing dance moves.
