Live Concert Review-Catie Curtis-Thunderbird Cafe-3.1.10

By Kit Masaracchia
Published: March 1, 2010
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“Hello, Mark and Wendy- good to see you.”   It’s not exactly ‘Are you ready to ROCK!?’ but those words may never have been uttered by singer/songwriter Catie Curtis, and this certainly was a venue much better suited to her personal greeting to front-table friends. 

The Thunderbird Café was, perhaps, a bit more somber on Monday, the first day of March, than a roaring summer Friday night, but this was the kind of place where you, very likely, would not know the difference.  Inside and out the Thunderbird Café, right in the heart of Lawrenceville, looked like a dirty little dive that would serve only table red wine but have a very fine selection of tequila.  Though, luckily for its patrons, the café had a fine selection of alcohol and was very clean.Three floors, ten tables, and two bars were packed in to face a tiny, black stage with sound and lighting equipment that said ‘I mean business.’  The mural surrounding the stage, the old posters and beer paraphernalia that covered the old brick walls suggested a fondness for lonely, shadowy walks through the dark streets of old Harlem.  The blue, red and warm yellow lighting evoking a certain nostalgia for the harder times of early Blues and Jazz.

This was the perfect setting for a woman in a shiny button down shirt and a guitar to serenade a small room of happy, lady-lovers ecstatic at the chance to be so intimate with Catie Curtis herself.  Catie, I’m happy to say, did not disappoint.  With no opening act, the eight o’clock show started promptly at 8:17 to allow for stragglers, of which there were not many.  By her second or third song the joint had twenty plus (but no more than thirty) eager listeners.

Ms. Curtis opened with “Fools” off of her album 'Sweet Life,' released in 2008, though her first bit of music was a quick harmony she recorded with a pedal to accompany herself as she sang the chorus.  This was the first of many little, skillful pedal sneak-ins throughout her performance.  As she began the song, my ears were pleasantly filled with crisp, clean vocals and full-bodied chords from her acoustic guitar.  Let this be a testament both to a talented solo performer that would like her lyrics to be heard and understood, as well as to Ben, the sound guy, knowing his business.  It is very refreshing to attend a concert at a bar in this city where there is care taken for the sound quality.

Her next few numbers were affectations of a much different decade in music or, as she described, “songs that sounded like the 1930’s”.  The first was a tune entitled “Lovely” that did embody sweet simplicity reminiscent of the softer side of Blues.  The second was a little more on the Grass side of Blues, and a bit more modern in its lyrical prose (my favorite line being “’Google’ me ‘till you need a cigarette”), but no less entertaining.  I’m told that this one, however, did not make it onto a CD.  Shucks.

After only a couple of songs Ms. Curtis played to the intimacy of the audience and began taking requests.  Happily, the small but devout crowd played along.  We heard “Troubled Mind,” which was aired on an episode of Dawson’s Creek.  Another good fan request was “Dad’s Yard,” a sweetly sentimental song originally recorded in 1996 on 'Truth From Lies' but brought back for a new recording on 'Hello Stranger.'

The good thing about the small stage a few tables was that we got to see the laid back side of Catie.  She gave us a taste of the first verse and chorus of requested “Sugar Cane,” then politely told the red-headed requester that the song had been co-written by artist Mary Gauthier and she should request Mary sing it the next time Mary was in town (as a seasoned artist who forgets lyrics can do in such close quarters).

Catie did a little ‘rocking out’ to “Kiss That Counted” and “My Shirt Looks Good on You” (old favorites from the album 'My Shirt Looks Good on You') by adding some fancy pedal-work on the fly and giving us a few layers of guitars and a little extra vocal pizzazz.  This was definitely needed as her set went on as the tempo did not differ greatly from song to song, which tends to happen with just a girl and her guitar.  Though her melodies were unique and differed throughout the performance, a few numbers lacked the fullness of her added band-mates present at her larger shows and heard on her albums.  The extra instruments and voices could have allowed us a better look into the complexities of her melodies and added a little more flavor to her bright guitar and sweet voice. 

Ms. Curtis is known for playing with great musicians.  Her albums are well mixed and mastered and consistently feature other artists of a very high caliber.  She has worked with Roy Bittan, keyboardist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Erin Mckeown and John Sands, to drop a few names.  On her newest record, 'Hello Stranger,' Catie plays with a well-tuned group of artists out of Nashville.  Last evening missed (even if just a little) the whole Catie Curtis experience.  However, with a space such as the Thunderbird Café on a Monday night it was also easy to see why the artist played unadorned.

I will say this for Ms. Curtis: she is a world-class performer, band or no.  She was constantly tuning to different keys to play requested songs and re-tuning to keep her lovely voice on key.  All the while chatting easily about curling, or regaling the crowd with funny asides about dancing with Cyndi Lauper, or letting us in on lyrical secrets.  There was never a dull moment, an unplanned silence, or an awkward pause, which can be the danger of such a casual performance.  It is no surprise that she has toured with the Lilith Fair and was asked to perform for the Human Rights Campaign at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama last year (perhaps more of a surprise was that it was then that she danced with Cyndi Lauper).  We were lucky enough to hear “Radical,” the song performed for the Human Rights Campaign, during the show.

Ending on a high note with the song “Happy” Ms. Curtis said goodnight and did not give an encore. 

All in all it was a great show for an intimate setting.  Thunderbird Café’s first show of March brought in a wonderful, but small, mix of die-hard fans as well as middle-aged hippies looking for a good meal and a good guitar on a Monday night.  The crowd was happy to sing, clap and even dance along.  Veteran singer/songwriter and performer Catie Curtis took a small room and made a small performance fun and enjoyable.