Garage Voice w/ Noah and Abby Gundersen 3.19.2009 – The Caterina Winery – Spokane, WA
Puget Sounds
Thursday night we headed off to the Caterina Winery to see Seattle Band Garage Voice with friends Noah and Abby Gundersen from Centralia, Washington. This was the first time I have been to the Caterina Winery and the Christmas lights, candles, and warm coloring throughout the space was the perfect environment for both of these bands – not to mention the giant papier-mâché moon hanging over the right side of the stage. When we walked in the doors we were greeted by the "door guy" who drew a little skateboard on our hands, showing we paid… I thought that was cool, better than an X or wristband. The place was full with a little over 50 people sitting down drinking out of wine glasses. I grabbed myself a glass of Imposter White Wine and got ready for the show.
The first things I thought of when Garage Voice took the stage was cute, dorky, band kids that are way talented. Their wasn't much singing in the first few songs just fun retro sounding rockin' music, it was hard for me to not dance. Tommy was vocals and guitar, Patrick was on drums, and Bruce played the Keyboard and Bass Guitar. Bruce also led the crowd in most of the clapping – that is an important role! The boys all wore buttoned up shirts and they just looked like they needed a pencil pouch, I loved it! They were also personal with the crowd talking about how they just came from sunny California to snowy Spokane, and thanking the people that helped them on tour. After rockin' out for a little longer Tommy brought up Noah and Abby Gundersen to join them on stage. The five of them sounded really well together. Noah threw in his acoustic guitar and Abby with her violin, plus all of them sang together adding this distinctive type of harmony. They also looked like they were having a good time. Patrick got on the mic and mentioned this was their last song and next up would be Abby and Noah and then he started to say something when Tommy interrupted him with an um hello it's a secret. Their secret was soon revealed that Garage Voice would almost be like the backing band for the whole set of Noah and Abby.
I was expecting this mellow singer songwriter brother sister pair to do their thing up on stage and it was cool to see them still perform their songs but with the funkiness of Garage Voice. Noah has amazing vocals; he can sing extremely well I was almost memorized by his voice. He could go from this fun care free style to a forceful "I'm going to make a point" yet still be sound. During their first song the lyrics went somewhat like "If I was a painter, I'd paint you and hang you net to Mona Lisa, put that girl to shame…. If it's the last thing I do I am going to marry you – Caroline." Not exactly in order – but the song was so sweet and catchy and it was really enjoyable like most of both sets were. I respected that there were two girls dancing off in the corner singing every lyric to the songs and were just having a great time, the crowd was really enjoying the set. I am not sure if this applies to Matt but that was the first time I have seen two separate bands play together, I thought that was really cool. About half way through Noah announced this was their last date on the tour and that also made the show seem kind of special in a way.
The two bands did a cover of a song put out in 1994 (that's all they mentioned) and within the first 10 seconds of Patrick on the drums I knew exactly what 1994 song it was. They killed a cover of Radiohead's High and Dry, Abby on the violin just nailed it… it was a cover of the song that I won't ever forget they did Radiohead justice. They continued to play a few more songs and for the last song of their tour and of the night everyone got up and danced, cheered, and clapped. Overall it was an intimate show that I am glad I spent the $5 to see on a Thursday night, once again proving that there is a music scene in Spokane.
Andrea@checkitoutmusic.com
