Junebug / Wild Colonials @ the Troubadour

Junebug / Wild Colonials, the Troubadour, Los Angeles, 4/10/97

Junebug - I'd put Junebug up at the top of the list of opening bands I've seen recently. I don't normally like to compare bands to other bands, but since I'm not feeling terribly imaginative at the moment, I'd have to say that they managed to fall somewhere between the blues of the Cowboy Junkies and Janis Joplin, but after they fell there, they managed to get up and wander confidently around the field between the two, capturing the beautiful, haunting voice of Margo Timmins and melding it with the earnest wail of Janis. Overall, an interesting take on the blues which I will hopefully be hearing more of in the near future.

The Wild Colonials - I know I initially described them as Irish folk rock, but I think that they are slowly edging toward a heavier balance of rock beyond folk, a bit more than the last time I saw them. However, it was nice to see that Paul the fiddle guy was wearing the same plaid pants - even with all the chaos in the world today, at least some things remain plaid. As I looked around at the five of them on stage, I thought to myself, "Here are five people doing exactly what they should be doing." Each of them was really talented, and each of them was having a really good time performing. They played a good balance of mellow things from their first album and folk-tinged rock bits from their second album, and even a surprise cover of "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man". A really good time, a lot of fun, and that's all I've got to say for now.

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