tell me about it

“You’ve got magic inside your fingertips
It’s leaking out all over my skin”

Movida at St. James Powerhouse

I must say, for a free event, Class95 was smart enough to keep the invited list small so that the queue was manageable and Movida wasn’t unduly crowded. The wait wasn’t too interminable either; we got there at 7.15, queued till 7.45, and waited till 8.20pm for the showcase to start. Not that bad. But Taya Rogers is one heck of an airhead, and Glenn Ong needs a haircut. And they need more practice in talking to crowds.

But who cares about them? Colbie!!

Colbie and her band. Sorry for the crappy photo, camera isn’t quite up to snuff.

She looks nothing like the picture on her CD cover :/ of which many, including Puppy, have opined bears a striking resemblance to Jennifer Aniston.

Puppy squinted at her on stage. “Hey! She looks nothing like Jennifer Aniston in real life!”

But she looks very country, and wholesome, and just so fresh-faced and unspoilt. I like. She wore a lovely little cotton-jersey pinstriped dress (which I coveted) and the whole look was just lovely. Enough of the overly made-up teen queens whose songs have more synth and bass than vocals. Here comes Colbie, who makes it work with a simple, unfussy acoustic set. Her drum guy played only the cajon and snapped his fingers. One guitar guy played a teeny baby guitar!

Colbie sang ‘Realize’, ‘Battle’ (which was an amazing, amazing version - how I wish she’d produced this one. Full of thumping cajon beats and smoky minor chords, *swoon*), two new songs (one was called ‘Out Of My Mind’, written for her family; the other was a cover of ‘Beast of Burden’ by the Rolling Stones, which I think absolutely nobody in the entire club recognized) ‘Bubbly’ and ‘Magic’. I have illicit recordings! Which I will not post online, because I have no intention of getting into trouble for them. Hurhur.

“I’ll never be your beast of burden
I’ve walked for miles
My feet are hurtin’”

Her beautiful alto voice is pitch-perfect. Dusky and throaty, she sings her simple tunes without much ornamentation. It seems to be a running theme - simplicity at its best, and oh, how it works for her. She seems really down-to-earth and just a regular girl, and it’s terribly endearing to her audience. She did seem to have a bit of a cough though - hope she doesn’t strain her voice.

And she plays her own guitar! And writes her own songs! What’s not to like? You can’t help swaying and smiling and singing along (quietly) to all her songs. It’s sugar and spice and everything nice. That’s her music; that’s her. Quintessentially nice. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.

I really enjoyed myself :) and terribly glad that Puppy came with me. It’s not every guy that would accompany his girlfriend for a night of sappy sweet girly music :P