By: Andrea Myers
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Beight performs at the Terminal - Photo by David de Young
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An evening of talented singer/songwriters kicked off with an acoustic set by High on Stress frontman Nick Leet. A relatively small crowd gathered as Leet worked his way through songs of High on Stress' debut album, Moonlight Girls, and the tracks adapted well to the solo acoustic setting. On the album, High on Stress works together to create a pleasant, mellow alt-country feel, but solo Leet's voice demanded attention and sounded soulful and wrenching at times. The end of the opening set featured a vulnerable-yet-commanding cover of Ryan Adams' “Come Pick Me Up,” which went down almost as smoothly as the numerous pitchers of beer being consumed by the concert attendees in the characteristically dingy Nordeast bar.
Charley Dush was up next, a solo performer that I have been meaning to check out ever since I caught his captivating cover of “For You Blue” at the George Harrison tribute show a while back. Dush's voice sounded delicate and soft, at times bordering on just plain quiet, and it made it easy for the growing audience to talk over his acoustic set. Things quieted down a bit as Dush played his best song, “Bail of Plastic Tears” off his 2005 album Highwood Hills. The song immediately conjured up Elliot Smith comparisons in my mind with satisfyingly depressing lyrics (“Chester was a golden boy, now he's thinking 'bout suicide”), which managed to hush the increasingly intoxicated crowd for a few sweet, swaying moments.
The highlight of the self-proclaimed “Magical Misery Tour” lineup was Beight, a much buzzed-about (well, I definitely heard a persistent whir here and there) band that had more than piqued my curiosity on the Internet. At the first downbeat, Beight perked up the room with their blend of indie and folk pop. Beight, aka Brad Senne, was wistful and charming, pivoting his head in Fab Four fashion and strumming his acoustic guitar with ease as he wafted catchy vocal lines. Drummer Josh Lemoine (TV Sound) ramped up the energy with splashy back-beats that created an interesting retro-pop feel at times, somehow conjuring up simultaneous associations with TV Sound, Joe Strummer of The Clash and Mason Jennings.
Beight's debut CD, last year's File in Rhythm, is an easily accessible disc of tunes that ranges from acoustic dreaming to shiny, pretty pop. The best track on the album, “Junior High Smiles,” translated wonderfully live into a building, engaging song that peaked with a line that really hit home personally for this listener: “You make me feel so shy-shy-shy, shy-shy / When I'm around you / Hopefully it'll fade in time / Ooh, ooh, ooh oo-ooh.” Toward the end of the song Nick Leet turned around to give me a huge, smiling thumbs-up to signal his approval, and all I could do was nod back in agreement with the music's vulnerable beauty.
If he keeps it up, Beight may join the ranks of other favorite songwriters like Chris Koza, the aforementioned Jennings and their growing peer group of established local pop artists-done-good.
The evening was finished out by Aviette and Brokenheart Jones, two more bands that I have been meaning to check out but had to pass up this evening.
Location Info:
The Terminal Bar
Artist Info: Beight, Charley Dush, Nick Leet
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