When Lea, my Amsterdam-based niece, and her husband Erez, first told me about their upcoming visit to Southern California, I went straight to the web site of my favorite venue to see what was scheduled for September 29 and 30, the only two dates that were available for us to attend a concert at McCabe's - you know, no trip to Southern California is complete without catching at least one show at McCabe's!
On the strength of a couple of decent YouTube videos, I bought tickets to see Madison Violet, a duo I had not heard of. It turned out to be an exceptionally inspired choice.
Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac, collectively known as Madison Violet, grabbed me from their very first song and they kept me under their spell for the entire duration of the show. As the frequent concert attendee that I am, I know quite well that after you hear a few good songs, you are bound to be served a few forgettable ones, but there were no second-rate songs Saturday night at McCabe's. Indeed, one of Brenley and Lisa's strong points is their stellar songwriting - all of their compositions, whether uptempo or not, had one trait in common: their high quality. And they can sing, too - as I write this, two days after the show, their beautiful vocal harmonies are still echoing in my brain.
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| Madison Violet at McCabe's |
Bookended by two gorgeous ballads, "Tell Me"and "Small Of My
Heart", Madison Violet's set was something to behold. Most of the
songs they sang for us were self-penned, I suppose, and even at first blush, they all sounded
great. I absolutely loved the catchy "Come As You Are" (not the Nirvana hit) and the tuneful "The Ransom" and "Ohio", three songs that illustrate the perfect alignment between their melodic sense and mine. The included covers
were equally great. Driven by Brenley guitar, Gram Parsons' "Ooh Las
Vegas" and the traditional "Cindy, Cindy" brought the house down and so
did Nirvana's "All Apologies".
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| Madison Violet at McCabe's |
Brenley and Lisa did just fine without a backing band. Playing the entire set without a single support musician, these ladies put their instrumental prowess to good use. In addition to their acoustic guitars, we got to see a few other instruments in action: Lisa's violin playing infused a lot of energy into their act. I also liked her skillful playing of the mandolin.
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| Madison Violet at McCabe's |
I so badly wanted to impress my European guests with a great show at McCabe's and I must say that not in my wildest dreams was I expecting to catch a concert as good as the show put on by Madison Violet Saturday night at McCabe's. My guests had a heck of a good time, too, and they rewarded me with hugs and kisses for my outstanding choice!
A few weeks ago I had no clue who Madison Violet was and it took Brenley and Lisa no time at all to make a passionate fan out of me. I can't wait for their next appearance at McCabe's.
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| The set list |
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| Lisa MacIsaac chatting with fans after the show |
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| Madison Violet T-shirts |
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| The stage |
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| The stage - Detail |
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| Lea and Erez, my satisfied guests, in front of the venue |
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