There was much talk about this gig, leaving only space for Alisha Batth to take stage and enchant.
Surprisingly, the gig started on time. Hard Rock was full but not crowded and everyone seemed to be enjoying dinner with mainstream rock music blaring 5dbs too loud.
Batth was on stage with an acoustic guitar and an unidentified drummer. Head downstairs for the entire review, the Indiecision and more great pics courtesy Shirley and her trusty D50.
Here’s what I liked about Alisha Batth.
1. She sounded identical to Ani DiFranco and Melissa Etheridge
2. The covers were pulled off perfectly
Here’s what I didn’t like about Alisha Batth.
1. She sounded identical to Ani DiFranco and Melissa Etheridge
2. The covers were pulled off perfectly
The girl didn’t input any significant Batth into DiFranco or whoever she was covering. There wasn’t much personal style save for a few errors on the guitar and routine problems with the sound (which meant about a three minute gap between each song, three minutes of no sound except hungry chatter). Her cover of Jeff Buckley’s ‘Hallelujah’ was great but the effect would’ve been much better at a small cafe rather than a large er, cafe where people were too busy stuffing overpriced burgers and whatnots down their throats.
The first five minutes were wonderful, her voice has depth and emotion. It complements the acoustic. But just being in such an un-intimate setting took away any attention one could devote to her (what with waiters yelling “Ali!” every few minutes). Stage presence is also something she needs to work on. As noted by the Groovebox, she didn’t introduce any song save ‘Hallelujah’, and spent far too much time between them not engaging the audience at all.
Her date at Blue Frog clashes with Them Clones at Hard Rock (see May gig calendar) and I’ve no doubt I’ll be back consuming an HRC Cheeseburger on the 13th.
Indiecision: B-
Retropark
was four old guys playing some nice, classic covers. Head to Jazz to see them whenever Karaoke is not on.
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