Review and photos–Melissa McClelland at WECC, Winnipeg, Nov 10 2009
– text by eugene osudar/photos by Ailsa Dyson
www.myspace.com/melissamcclelland
i love her voice
i love her songs
i love her words
i love her smile
jaine loves her “girly songs”
like Skyway Bridge
more than the Tom Waits,
Big Easy
stylin’
songs
that
piano’s
been
drinking!
on the Cds
i Really Love
the jagged
edged
New Orleans
street poems
“I’m as good as dead.”
Glenrio
jeff wouldn’t say
newer/older
gritty/silky
we love her
songs
oh,
the love,
it’s in her
voice
and the crafting
of the words
and melodies
the syllables
and rhythmic
beats
fitting in
purr
fec
tly
with
the spirit
of
The Beats
“don’t you ever fall in love
with a girl who works the clock
if you dare to carry on
she’ll leave you howling
in the light”
God Loves Me
Victoria Day
Thumbelina’s One Night Stand
the CDs
the vibrancy
of the styles
the immediacy
of the tunes,
words,
Voice
like the folds
in her vintage
dresses
bright
red
PoWer
“blood on my knuckles”
Glenrio
“She asked for it!”
shimmering
glitter
soul
tingling
music
heartache
dance
that’s
Melissa McClelland
jeff and jaine
prefer Melissa
performing live
without Luke
on guitar
i don’t
she shines on her own
and was better this time,
reason, when Luke’s
there
you watch him
they agree
i don’t
as soon as she
breathes in and
opens her mouth
to sing
as her lips part
and she utters
the first syllables
the first hummables
the first oooo’s
and aaaahhhhhh’s
i was lost
yet again
i keep
writing it
feeling it
g
o
r
g
e
o
u
s
it’s in her voice
i’m
f
a
l
l
i
n
g
in love
all over again
and then the words
fall
into my hands
like petals
like leaves
like stars
like heaven
like nails
(hammered
in)
i like Melissa and Luke
playing it live
but i’ll take
what i can get
11 songs
one hour
(just right
for the just about
200 at the WECC)
Hogtown
Go Down Matthew
Glenrio
Skyway
Goodbye To You
God Loves Me
A Girl Can Dream
Passenger 24
Victoria Day
Money Shot
Brake
“shit-faced Cinderella”
did i hear her right?
beautiful
haunting
harmonies,
Go Down Matthew
“i got a rubber band
a pitchfork stick
i got a stone
the size of my father’s
fist
i got a mean dog
with a bone to pick
Glenrio
got me seeing red.”
“i’ve been doing
lots of window
shopping.”
A Girl Can Dream
first show
of the tour
a little ragged
mostly glorious
it took the Money Shot
for the extra musicians
to hit that tight
band
stride
that’s alright
she’s always
shining
Loved the jazzy
hot drumming
on Passenger
24.
Justin Rutledge/
a tale of two sets
or
What Is This Shit?
14 songs
80 minutes
the first 35 minutes
he’s playing it solo
acoustic
and it’s really,
um,
soothing
jaine warned me,
you may need a couple cups
of coffee
jaine and jeff
Love
Justin Rutledge
jeff calls him one
of the best songwriters
around
now,
i don’t drink coffee
i drink tea.
sweet and milky
i Love chai.
train stops
in India
chai
street stall chai
Crawford Market.
Mumbai.
so, i’m thinking
how is this happening
Neil Young
Bill Bourne
Ben Lee
they smoke it
solo or with a band
by the third song
i’m sitting down
and i’m yawning
out of control
and i’m thinking
maybe i need a cup of
coffee
like michelle’s drinking
so, Justin tells us a story
about having an itunes
single of the week
and reading the comments
and one of them said,
“what is this shit?”
and he tells
us he just
made some
mistakes
in the song
he just played
first show
when i don’t like
somebody
i don’t write anything
i just let it go
so, then why am i writing this?
because i…
he’s just finished singing
Be A Man
and i’ve written
in my journal,
“The Perry Como of Canadian
singer
song
writers.”
so i’m not going
to write anything
about Justin Rutledge
because i…
and then the band comes
on
and it all changes
on a dime
ooops,
on the Penny
that’s the song
the 6th song
the turning point!
and so
what unfolds
is 55 minutes
of wonder!
after 35 minutes
of, blunder?
like he needs the band’s
adrenaline
rush
to kick start
to energize
and take those
songs
those words
into a different,
reverent
place
the solo songs,
Wire
Emily R
Everyone
Diamonds
Be A Man
the band songs,
Penny
Jesus
St. Peter
Robin
Sober
War
Greenwich
Johnny B Good
Jelly Bean
I Love the big sound
guitar solo lines
of David Baxter
truly,
two different sets
two completely
different
Justin
s
there’s juice and power
and passion with the band
alone
he spaces
into a sleepwalking
singing
zone, giving us
lullabies
to yawn to
so, i wrote about
Justin Rutledge
because i
Loved the last
55 minutes
and the last song
Jelly Bean
he went off mike
to the edge
of the stage
he had us
all singing
feeding us
all the lines
what a lovely
nonsensical
song
pure whimsy
and the choir sang,
200 singers
at the West End Cultural
Center,
beautifully.
Fin.
ps. what if Melissa and Luke did the Chuck Berry songbook?
Melissa McClelland
Justin Rutledge
WECC
November 10
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