Miscellaneous - Barrymore’s, Ottawa, 6/8/2005

  by Andrew Carver

published: 23 / 7 / 2005

intro

Former Songs : Ohia frontman Jason Molina has been compared to Neil Young with his latest act Magnolia Electric Company. Andrew Carver, however, is unriveted at Barrymore's in Ottawa

Jason Molina has gone from being compared to Will Oldham as Songs: Ohia to being compared to Neil Young as Magnolia Electric Company; along the way he stopped at Barrymore’s, the vaudeville theatre turned rock club. The first act of the night was local country rockers Greenfield Main, who covered Neil Young’s 'Walk On' in their own songs about hunting turkeys and suicidal Thai lovers. The next act, Pittsburgh rappers Grand Buffet, made for a bizarre combination with the rest of the night’s roots rock, and several audience members seemed baffled, but I for one was in tears of laughter at the absurdist banter and antics of Jarrod Brandon Weeks and Jackson O'Connell-Barlow. After Grand Buffet’s mind-bending act, Jason Molina and Co. seemed almost underwhelming. Molina’s plaintive voice and tales of romatic woe fit well together (as does his somewhat hangdog expression), and he has a crack band in drummer Mark Rice, bassist Pete Schreiner, the versatile Mike Kapinus on both electric piano and trumpet. Guitarist Jason Groth must be singled out for particular praise, along with the lap steel player Mike Brenner. Although after more than an hour Magnolia Electric Company's lovelorn lyrics were beginning to sound somewhat stale, the powerful band kept things moving along. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that Grand Buffet were the most memorable act of the evening – even if that’s mostly because they were so out of place.

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