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Big Game - Photo by Stacy Schwartz
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Big Game is the two-man outfit of Bryce Midas and Joel Hubbard, multi-instrumentalists playing roots-type music that has enjoyed a resurgence nationally and locally. Their faceted, rough around the edges style is buoyed by their cheerful banter, stringing together self-deprecation and pop-culture non-sequiturs. A choice quotation from Thursday night: “Which Bear is the best bear? Wrong. Black Bear is best,” said just before breaking into “Sweet Loretta,” a song about horses, boxing and gambling on a riverboat that could have been sung by The Soggy Bottom Boys.
Earlier in the set, they played “Liquor Lyles,” one of my favorites of their original tunes. Midas takes lead guitar and vocals as Hubbard accompanies on a lap steel that melds roots sound with an alt-rock feel that is as touching in its familiarity as in its sweetness about connections in bars during Minneapolis winters. Big Game closed with a round of “Sweet By and By,” an original that fooled me into thinking it was a traditional spiritual. The shouted chorus had the floors stomping and hands clapping, an appropriate introduction for Eddy Burke & the Consequences.
Eddy Burke is a man of many faces and changes, and not just because you can watch his elastic mouth stretching around the words. As a songwriter, Burke often uses knotted inner rhymes (“synesthesia, self taught amnesia”) and humor (“Gonna find that smiling girl if I have to leave my apartment”) to support his songs of wandering and often lost love. He can run hot and cold in his performance but was very present on Thursday night, showing off his exceptional guitar-playing skills. His eyes were often closed and he played in stocking feet, as if to better soak up spilled beer and tears.
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Eddy Burke - Photo Schwartz
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Burke’s solo playing in the middle of the set showed why he can be such an engaging presence. Enunciating clearly even in his quickest patter and hitting sharp, clear notes, he played with a pressing command of his work. Coming out of each song, he would smile a wide child-like smile and give a giggle or make a joke. He takes his craft seriously and this show was a great way to kick off his tour. Over the next two months, he plans to play 33 shows in 12 states, and will put 9,000 miles on his 1990 Honda Civic, a true modern troubadour. Although both bands had moments that did not fully gel, the joy of playing shone through, like glimmers of dawn roaring down the highway.
Location Info:
Lee's Liquor Lounge
Artist Info: Big Game, Eddy Burke
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