One thing I love about attending Mike Viola shows is that at any given
show, I'm likely to be in a room with many other musicians that I love
and respect. And its not so much that "wow, this is so cool, I'm in a
room with so-and-so!" Its more that if Mike is loved and respected
among local musicians from all across the genres, then I know that it
is no fluke that I love him so much. He has something extraordinary in
his music and his talent.

Anyhow, the show. This one was entirely different than last week, both
in the setlist and the entire tone of the show.

Rey and I got there early, around 7:30. We caught the end of the first
act, and the entire 8:00 act. The first one was an accoustic duo,
folky sounding, female vocals. I really liked it and signed their
mailing list. The second one was "The Cousins Brothers" and they were
"Americana." They played Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and other folky
american acts. One guy was the singer and played accoustic guitar or
banjo during the set, and the other guy would read poety or short
stories, or spoken word lyrics to songs. They alternated between the
two of them and for some reason, death, murder, and remorse was the
theme of the early stuff, but later into the set, they got into some
love and happier things.

And Mike Viola enjoyed them. And I know if Mike likes them, I will too.

Now, since Rey and I got there so early, we got our "regular" table in
front next to the piano. While he was setting up, 2 girls asked if
these empty seats seats were taken. We said they weren't so they sat
down. After a minute or two, they turned around and one of the girls
said she knew who we were. She is on the Mike Viola mailing list that
we run and. Go figure! Guess I'm becoming famous for my love of Mike
Viola. :) (And Ben Folds, she mentioned that she knew us from that
too.)

Well, then Mike played. Totally different show than before. He
continued to jump between guitar and piano, but he was more sure of
what he was going to play. He didn't think about it between songs and
it didnt have the same impromtu feel. It was very fluid and
comfortable though, and of course he had a fantastic rapport with the
audience. It shouldn't surprise though, because anyone who knows Mike
knows that he really is an amazing person, so friendly and kind to
everyone, so for him, it really is that he is playing for a big room
full of his friends. And tonight it certainly was a big room full of
people. There were probably at least twice as many as last week, and
this week we were joined by Danny Weinkauf of They Might Be Giants,
Freedy Johnson, someone from The Argument (didn't get a chance to see
who though), Erick of The Brilliant Mistakes, and probably a bunch
more musicians that I either didn't see or didn't recognize. For an
amazing rendition of "Baker Street," Jeremy, a mutal friend of Danny
Weinkauf and Mike Viola joined Mike on stage to play the trumpet. This
song was amazing. Now, I love the original. There is something about
the way the song builds and builds and then comes down for the vocals,
and then builds and builds. Its a very cool song. Well, this version
was Mike on accoustic guitar and Jeremy on the trumpet. (btw, Mike
called Jeremy a good friend of his after knowing him a week which
tells you how kind and friendly and easy to become friends with Mike
is.) Anyway, "Baker Street" was fantastic. Probably the best cover of
this I have heard. The trumpet was a nice touch, and between the
trumpet and Mike's guitar, they got all the cresendos just right. All
of the emotional impact was there. Mike's amazing voice was the
perfect thing for this song. His voice is just amazing, one of the
best singing voices as far as I'm concerned, and he just did this song
so well.

After "Baker Street" he kept Jeremy up on stage and called up his
friend Freedy. I thought to myself "nah, couldn't be..." but sure
enough, Freedy Johnson. Jeremy stayed on the trumpet, Freedy took
accoustic guitar, and Mike got on the piano. They did a really fun
version of "Let 'Em In" by Wings with Freedy taking lead.

Towards the end of the set, Mike took one request for "Motel Mood"
which is, imo, the PERFECT New York City in summer song. Which is
ironic because only a few lines mention New York City. Its about
getting out of the city during the weekends in the summer. One of the
amazing (and forgive me if I use the word "amazing" too much in this
review, but amazing is an acurate description) things about Mike's
songwriting is the imagery and meaning he is able to pack into a song.
An entire novel may well have half as much as one of Mike's songs.
"Motel Mood" is no exception. In the few lines where he mentions NYC,
he has the doldrums down, he conjures up the heat and the humidity and
the way the streets empty out. He doesn't even mention any of those
things, yet it comes across so clear with his lyrics. The rest of the
song brings to mind cheap motels along blue highways, complete with
their beds with the quarter slots, it brings to mind bungalos in
upstate New York and bed and breakfastes in New England. The perfect
summer in NYC song.

One thing I've noticed about Mike Viola is that his recent shows have
been much less about the "power pop" and more about the singer song
writer. Mike isn't a powerpop artist, though many of his fans are
powerpop fans, and even some of his songs follow the powerpop formula.
Mike is a musician and an artist who plays his own songs. Some are
folky, some are poppy, but all of them will delight in one way or
another.

His set list (Quotes mean I don't know the real title, which is most
of these songs because he played mostly new stuff)

Guitar:
"Something Electric"
"Lead Us Away"
Piano:
"Acting Our Age"
"Who Invited You Here"
Guitar:
"Know Each Other Well"
"The Sound of My Own Voice"
Guitar, w/ Jeremy on trumpet:
Baker Street
Piano, w/ Jeremy on trumpet and Freedy Johnson on lead vocals and guitar:
Let 'Em In
Guitar:
Motel Mood
Yesterday (just the beginning. He was tuning his guitar and played a
bar, and someone called it out, so he played a few verse and then said
"Don't fuck around with Yesterday. Thats a legitimate song!" or
something to that effect. It was funny.
"I Will Return"
Piano:
"I Won't Last Long"

And now we are home. Tomorrow is Sloan. Did I ever tell you that I
love my life?

And now for Mike Viola tourdates:

June 15 and 16 - Los Angeles - The Largo
June 20 and 27 - The Living Room - NYC
July 29 - Boston - The Lizard Lounge (with Todd, so I guess that means
it is The Candy Butchers, also Jim Boggia will be playing that night
as well)

Stacy