By: Andrea Myers
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Coach Said Not to at the Triple Rock - Photo by Andrea Myers
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The Mark Mallman late show Friday at the Triple Rock was commanded by its two outstanding opening acts, Coach Said Not To and Robert Skoro, who gave Mallman quite a run for his money with two solid performances.
Coach Said Not To
Coach Said Not To took the stage first, at which time the dance floor portion of the venue was still completely clear of people. The lack of a noisy crowd ended up enhancing the performance for people like me, who grabbed a seat near the back of the dance floor and was able to hear every detail perfectly.
I know I am late in jumping on the Coach Said Not To bandwagon, but this was my first time seeing them, and within five minutes I fell in love with their music. The band played an excellent set, covering material mostly from their two EPs. Their latest cleverly titled P.E.E.P. is only three tracks, but features more startlingly honest and funny lyrics, time changes, and multi-layered harmonies than most bands can eke out in a ten or twelve track effort. Toward the beginning of the set they played a song called "The Last Straw” that very literally describes real-life events and their significance (or lack thereof). In an eerie moment of chance I snapped a shot of the band just as lead singer and guitarist Eva Mohn sweetly sang, "There's a camera taking pictures / Like she feels she's going to miss us / Take one of me." Mohn's sister Linnea grinned to herself as she coaxed a subtle rhythm out of her shiny black Fender J-Bass, getting the joke.
As I am sure many do, I attempted to relate CSNT to other bands, and in some ways they exhibit the same feminist force as other female bands of the Ani Difranco persuasion. However, CSNT embrace the Righteous Babe mentality in a more organic sense; they go back and forth from embracing their femininity to blending in as "one of the boys" faster than they change key or tempo. They have done an excellent job of shattering stereotypes with their talent, enough that I was able to sit back and enjoy the band as a group of musicians, not specifically a group of four girls, which I really appreciated.
Nate Perbix, their original drummer and only male member left in August to play full-time with his first band, Cowboy Curtis. Their new drummer, Annika Johnson, is a student of Steve Gould (Bill Mike Band) and appears to be an excellent fit for the group. Johnson showed her knack for sensitive drumming and attention to the detail, at times blending into the background, and at others taking the reigns and commanding the group to move forward. It was impressive to see a female drummer with so much rhythmic prowess and technical ability, a rare sight in the local music scene. All four band members - Lee Violet on keyboards, the Mohn sisters, and Johnson - do a fine job of responding to one another and blending their sound, so that at many times there is no single instrument that protrudes more than the others, which creates a great final product.
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Robert Skoro
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Robert Skoro
After CSNT cleared the stage, Robert Skoro came out with his band and rocked out in the most subdued way possible. Skoro was playing with a slimmed-down version of his normal touring band, with drummer J.T Bates and keyboardist Andy Thompson. The trio, led by Skoro's buttery smooth vocals, created such a warm and subtle sound that it almost slid right under the conversations in the gathering crowd. The musicians kept a nice balance with the room, at times slipping into the background and then reappearing with strands of striking, poetic lyrics. For those in the crowd who have yet to purchase his new album, That These Things Could be Ours, we were treated to a heaping spoonful of its sugary sweet songs.
One of my favorite songs off the new album, "Angles," grabbed my attention immediately with a simple yet meaningful first line and chorus:
Like the flower on my lapel
Life is heaven, pinned on hell
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All the angles of your face
That I didn't recognize
I can no longer ignore
No one else could take your place
But I don't think that I want to know you anymore
Skoro skates on a thin line with his soft-spoken voice and demeanor, but resists falling into breathiness. The other musicians in the trio responded well to his sensitivity, with Bates favoring swishing brushes to hard drumsticks, and Thompson switching off between tinkling piano and the unique sound of a moaning melodica.
Location Info:
Triple Rock Social Club
Artist Info: Coach Said Not To, Robert Skoro
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