Jeff Waters - Barceloneta

Two weeks on iTunes and this isn't topping charts yet? Get on it people! Jeff Waters is the man! [Buy on iTunes]

Jeff Waters' Manhattan Blues

My RA from freshman year, as mentioned previously, is a rather excellent singer-songwriter. As 2007 Messiah College homecoming king, and current employee of the Harrisburg Institute, it is perhaps appropriate that many of his songs focus on travel and places both near and far (Messiah's primary advertising point is their nationally ranked study abroad program). "Manhattan Blues" is no exception thematically, but stands out to me for some reason. Apparently I am not alone in this, as Jeff has chosen to post this particular tune on his YouTube channel:

Show Review: First Friday

This year, Alex Brubaker started First Fridays, an event to help campus musicians gain experience performing actual sets instead of just single songs at Coffeehouse. Each month he hosts a few artists either outside the Union on the patio or in the Fishbowl. Sometimes he brings in outside guests, which have included Suzi Brown and Joseph Strider. I've made it out for a few, but for some reason haven't gotten around to reviewing them and probably shouldn't try to remember that far back to do one after the fact.

This month featured Matt Wagner, Natalie Ness, and Jeff Waters. Wagner opened up, bringing along a few accompanying musicians for some songs as he did at the Sycamore House show. His guitar work was more complex than the average singer-songwriter, probably because he's a music performance major. He closed the show with an acoustic rendition of his dance-pop tune "Vienna", which has since become a staple in my indie-dance sets.

Next up was Natalie Ness, a regular performer on campus whose multi-instrumental performances always bring a mix of originals and covers rearranged to fit better with them, like her popular medley of Lady Gaga songs.

Closing out the evening, my RA from freshman year, '08 homecoming king Jeff Waters returned to campus with an abundance of new material written since graduating. The focus of his latest album is on travel, as all of the songs were written while aboard planes, trains, and automobiles or backpacking across Europe. Standout tracks "Manhattan Blues" and "Postlude" were as beautiful live as they were when I first heard the demo recordings, as Waters' perfect pitch never failed us.

Be sure to come out to the final First Friday on May 6 for another evening of local music curated by Alex Brubaker.

The Fox and the Hound Show - 3/29/11

This week's show was supposed to include guest DJing by Jared "The Hound" High's parents, who were kept away by weather, and a live performance by Natalie Ness, who was under it. It did not, but it did include the usual inane joking and bizarre 3-song genre explorations. Listen & enjoy (?)

Be sure to catch Natalie, Jeff Waters & Matt Wagner at First Fridays [RSVP here] and Iron & Wine coming through this area later this month (Philly, Bmore, etc.) If you want to hear more dance music from us, Matt Pfeiffer and myself will be 'spinning' for Relay for Life here at Messiah next weekend.

Show Recap: Sycamore House on the Hill Benefit

This past weekend I dropped some jams on some cool kids at the Sycamore House on Allison Hill for their fundraiser benefiting the community garden they are starting. Before that happened, Matt Wagner, Craig Kile & co. played a set, ending with this hilarious acoustic rendition of Das Racist's "Combination Pizza Hut & Taco Bell":

You can catch Matt later tonight at First Fridays in the Fishbowl, along with Jeff Waters and Natalie Ness (who bailed on The Fox and the Hound Show this week due to illness). The residents from the house played a short set of covers as well before we all adjourned upstairs for a great performance by Darry Miller & the Veil. As many people as possible packed into the loft, overflowing down the hall and stairs to see/hear what was universally described as an incredibly tight performance. Since the last time I saw them at my birthday show, the band has picked up a new drummer and added Derek Jenkins on keys and background vocals, filling out their sound with both a blues feel and pop sheen I never knew they lacked. Despite my jury-rigged microphone stands and the small space, the guys played a great show. Definitely catch them live at Drexel on the 7th if you can!My set to close the show included this song, among other goodies:

Show Review: Zee Avi, The Backroad

Imagine that you're in college. You're stereotypically broke and trying to balance your time between studying for exams, playing Halo or playing ultimate frisbee. Your college thinks it best to bring options to you, in the form of a relatively unknown singer-songwriter, whose music sounds nice on the iTunes previews and who is at the level of popularity where you can pay $5 for a ticket. If you need a study break, or if it's too dark for disc golf, you go to the show. No problem. Imagine that you're an upcoming artist, who is getting paid to play gigs at a college. You are trying to establish a fan base, you are trying to perfect your musical abilities - you want the audience to leave and go buy a CD. The stage was set for such an experience on Saturday in Brubaker Auditorium at Messiah College, who hosted Zee Avi, a fledgling musician from Malaysia who, thanks to the world wide web, garnered some attention in the United States via YouTube. The show opened with opening act "The Backroad", an entertaining act of some college dudes who are skilled at their instruments and got the crowd involved [Edit: The Backroad is Kyle Morgan's band]. After wrapping up their set, the band cleared the stage for the headliner. Avi, joined by a drummer and a comatose bass player, opened her set with an a cappella number. The audience smiled and snapped along, totally into Avi's sound. That's when the proverbial shit hit the fan.

A monitor was rumbling, causing Avi to quit mid-song and ask for a new monitor. The sounds were driving her, and a few audience members, crazy. Fine. Weird, ill-timed, a bit bitchy, but fine. Some jokes from a Malaysian audience member eased the tension, but this ice breaker, as we would soon find out, was only temporary. As Avi began to play her first single, the audience scratched their heads, trying to figure out where this single had been played. Halfway through the song, the audience was taken off guard when we were put in the spotlight and asked to sing the chorus. We fumbled, we laughed nervously, we whispered rhymes that we thought might fill in the blanks. After closing her song, Avi stared at the audience and asked, blankly, "So how many of you out here actually know my songs?" Of course, most of us hadn't, so it was silent. Some girl and some guy probably whistled or cheered, but the rest of us sat stunned. A song or two later, some more technical problems arose, but this time it was the fault of the musician, not the tech crew. Avi gave a death glare to the sound booth throughout the rest of the number, determined to win the staring contest. She played a cover song, then addressed the audience abruptly by informing us she was about to end the show. The drummer left the stage and she crooned her final number, eyes-a-rollin, and then left the stage. There was hope for humanity when we thought she apologized for being bitchy; to our dismay, though, she just apologized for being pitchy - evidently, she couldn't hear herself for the last fifteen minutes.

[evidently she's always like that]

I realize that not much has been said about Avi's music, and this noticeable omission is no oversight. It's difficult to review the music of the show, because music took a backseat to her stage antics. Technically speaking though, Avi sounds brilliant. While her songwriting and guitar-picking skills are average, her voice is smooth and smoky, compensating for any other musical deficiencies she may have. The type of performance that Avi displayed was the type you would expect from a diva, someone not having anything to lose or prove, someone who could afford to be, for lack of a better word, rude. But Avi is quite the opposite - the crowd didn't sing along with her because we don't know her songs. She isn't familiar. We are looking for a good impression. Whether we know it or not, we are looking for an artist who can sail through a technical glitch without letting it ruin her evening. Her poor showmanship and eyerolls took center stage - not her music. Such a reality turned what could have otherwise been a pleasant, enjoyable concert into a painful, awkward spectacle that simultaneously alienated any pre-existing fans and snatched the possibility of any of us wanting to go buy her music. That's a mistake no musician can really afford these days, and Avi is no exception.

-Jeff Waters (music)

Show Review: Regina Spektor by Jeff Waters

Each of the two-thousand fans sandwiched into Philadelphia’s Electric Factory are smitten by Regina Spektor’s charm. And who can blame them? The Russian songstress has such a bizarre presence on the stage; one second, she’s giving Tchaikovsky a run for his money, and the next, she’s whacking a chair with a drumstick. Such a wide range of dripping talent has certainly not gotten to the head of the 29-year-old, who seemed unbelievably flattered and, at some points, utterly surprised at the number of voices singing along or the amount of applause received after her songs. Whether she believes it or not, each handclap is entirely deserved. Spektor’s obvious command of the piano, her flawless voice and her quirky and creative lyrics make for quite the show.

Opening with tracks from her new album, “Far”, it was immediately evident that this show would be different from past Spektor shows. Regina was not alone on stage, and was musically supported by a drummer, a cellist and a violin. The show belonged to Spektor, though, and the band was simply an added bonus. Within the first fifteen minutes, Spektor sang about a macaroni computer (The Calculation), barked like a dolphin (Folding Chair), and sang as a heartbroken divorcee who sees her ex involved with another woman while watching from his mouth (Ode to Divorce). Obviously, any worries that Regina’s newfound commercial success would ruin her appeal were immediately tossed out of the window. It was clear that Regina was in top form, and she had the crowd eating out of her hands and singing along at the top of their lungs.

As is the case with all of Spektor’s concerts, the show is driven by her subtle yet undeniably infectious personality. Interestingly enough, some of the most crowd pleasers were ones played away from the Steinway. Bobbing for Apple”, one of Spektor’s signature performance tunes, and That Time were played from her guitar. When Spektor messed up the lyrics during one of the numbers, she said “you all just witnessed the biggest fuckup of the American tour so far. Congratulations!”, which was met with thunderous applause.

Despite the intensity of her guitar numbers, and the enjoyment of her songs with the band, Spektor is at the top of her game when it’s just her and the keys. The crowd responded positively to On The Radio, clapping and singing along to every word. Deep in her set, Spektor peaked during her performance of Apres Moi, a haunting piano number that features a stanza in Russian from a Boris Pasternak poem. Spektor showcased a new song, Carefully Laid Plans, much to the delight of the crowd. After closing her set with Man of A Thousand Faces, Spektor returned to perform a star-studded, greatest-hits encore, featuring Samson, radio hit Fidelity, a riveting performance of Us, complete with the violin and cello), Hotel Song, which featured a beatboxer, and a self-penned, self-proclaimed “country song” called Love You’re A Whore.

During the closing number, Spektor sang “'Cuz they've been there before/And they've come back again/And they always go right back for more”, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. We’ll all be back for more.
- Jeff Waters (his blog is here)

Here's a video of her performing "Us":