By: David de Young
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Chris Koza and band at the Turf Club - Photo by David de Young
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Chris Koza celebrated the release of his new album Patterns on Saturday night at the Turf Club, and the St. Paul bar got its taste of what to expect at its first big shows since the smoking ban kicked in on the final day of March. At just after 9 p.m., there was already a sizable crowd in the club, a harbinger of the masses that would soon descend upon it by fans attracted to the all-star bill also featuring Coach Said Not To and 2024 Records recording artists Fitzgerald. Fueled by sponsorships ranging from 89.3 the Current to The City Pages "Picked to Click" and even web sponsorship from this website, it was in many ways the "show of the day."
Fitzgerald took the stage first, opening with "How Far North" from their 2005 Raised By Wolves CD. They followed it up with a slow but lovely version of "Bloody Stumps." Playing as a five-piece tonight, the band had a great big vibe. The music was joyful and fun and floored not only people who had never seen them before, but many of us who had.
By 10:30 a line had formed well out the door of the Turf and the show was already sold out. The logistics of handling the smoking ban had not quite been figured out yet, and if you left the club to light up, you likely found yourself waiting briefly in line to get back in. The door people handled the challenge of getting people in and out safely and smoothly, but maybe it's time for the Turf to consider having both an IN and OUT door.
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Coach Said Not To at the Turf - de Young
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Up next, Coach Said Not To played several new songs from their first full-length Mini Series, which will be released Saturday (April 8) with a 2 p.m. in-store performance at Electric Fetus. Freshly back from SXSW the band seemed joyful, tight and excited to be on the bill. (And even well-rested, despite headlining the previous night at the Varsity Theater.) Guitar player and singer Eva Mohn momentarily silenced the club when she announced that this would be the final time CSNT would be playing together, an April Fools joke I caught onto right away (though I found it ironic since this is my final review for HowWasTheShow).
(April Fools!)
It's difficult for me to talk about a performer like Chris Koza without getting philosophical about the way I think great songs are supposed to be crafted, and how in my version of the perfect world, musicians as talented and performance-tested as Koza are supposed to make immediate transitions from waiting tables to the full time job of being rock stars. But for the purposes of this review, I'm going to rely on the restraint I've developed over the years as a rock writer, and avoid that topic altogether.
Koza opened his set with a false start due to sound difficulties, but that was the only misstep for the rest of the evening. Going straight into "Midnight Rose," the attention grabbing opening song off his new album Patterns, Koza rocked out the end of the song for a few extra bars, demonstrating right away that he's not just a great recording artist, but an amazing performer as well. When he played the title song from his first album Exit Pesce cheers literally rose up in the crowd and flowed backwards across the room. It was a stadium show type roar, but at a smaller amplitude. Before following up with the title song from the new CD, Koza mentioned that he loved the screaming, which is good, because I think it's something he'd better get used to. Me? I admit to getting a few warm fuzzies and feeling like I was experiencing history from the front row.
"Patterns" was followed up by "South South Dakota," and people were dancing in the aisles, something I never thought I'd see at a Chris Koza show. And the people who weren't dancing by that point started up on the next song, "Fear Of Mimes."Koza called it his 40s/60s song. I call it his "La Bamba." As the cheering continued, it looked like Koza was blushing somewhat at the applause, which might have been a little more than even he had anticipated.
Next came "Look Left, Look Right," one of my favorites on the new disc, the song that contains the wonderful line "In Alphabet Town / what comes after Z? / A brand new start." Next on deck was the album's likely radio hit, "Candle in the Dark," which might not sound that out of place on a Martin Devaney album.
Koza's whole band performed with verve Saturday night. Peter Sieve played some other worldly guitar on "Goldmine," and the bouncy "Winning the Lottery." Drummer Luke Anderson and bassist Justin Blair didn't miss a note or beat. And last, but by no means least, JoAnna James was ever present on fiddle and background vocals, glowing as much as Koza and adding additional good vibe to the evening with her smiles of clear enjoyment.
Just when you thought the show might be coming to a close (after the traditional 13 songs) it kept on going. At about the 16 song mark came "Family Gun," with its fitting and even haunting line, "Right foot forward / and you won't be lost anymore / we can dance on and on." This was followed by "View From A Pier," one of the more reflective songs of the new album and "Trip to Poughkeepsie" off Exit Pesce.
The band left the stage at this point, but Koza remained to perform an encore solo on guitar, a touching and straightforward rendition of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: Chris Koza, Coach Said Not To, Fitzgerald
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