Echotown, The Cellarbirds, & Darcie Miner - Gullifty's - April 19th, 2001
Echotown, The Cellarbirds, & Darcie Miner
Gullifty's
April 19th, 2001
www.echotown.com
www.darcieminer.com
Around 8:15, my mom and I frolicked into Gullifty's, to get ready for Echotown's
cd release party. We went down the stairs and I slapped on a hot pink wristband
(I think I was the only U-21-er there) and we went in, to get a table next to the stage.
After about forty minutes of chatting with my mom, Darcie Miner took stage with her bassist,
Milhouse. I looked around at the crowd of people, and they all really seemed to be enjoying
themselves. A wee cluster of women started to dance in front of the stage.
They were twirling beaded necklaces around, and doing little jigs for a while (amusing),
but they soon ran off. Darcie's voice was as strong as usual and her guitar playing was amazing.
At one point, a string broke so she whipped out another acoustic and tried "to be nice to it."
I guess the guitars were in bad moods, because a few songs later, another string broke,
causing her to end the set short. Everyone cheered for her and talked amongst themselves
while The Cellarbirds set up. Bathroom break (my mom was drinking too much water)!
For all of those females out there who are actually reading this, I think we should start a
petition to knock down a wall so the chick's bathroom can be a bit spacier! Of course
I had to follow my mom in there, which meant whenever a gal popped in the bathroom,
I got attacked by the door (lack of space)! After squishing out of the bathroom, we
headed back to our table. I talked to my old gym teacher, Mr. Bedard for a wee bit
(he's a fan o' the Badlees lads) and then The Cellarbirds hopped on stage.
The Cellarbirds are Ron Simasek (drums), Bret Alexander (lead vocals, mandolin, guitar…just
about every strange-stringed instrument), & Paul Smith (bass, vocals). Their sound was a mix
of styles--they had a pop-rock-n'-roll-country thing going on. One song that's still in my head is
"On Any Given Day," which features Paul on lead vocals. If this song seems familiar to you,
you've probably heard it on the X's Under the Radar. The Cellarbirds appeared to have a lot of
energy on stage, and it seemed like they were enjoying themselves. After their set ended,
my mom had to pee yet again (I hope she doesn't read this). We returned to our table once
more, and waited until Echotown took stage. Echotowners Jeff Feltenberger (lead vocals,
acoustic), Mike Morrison (lead guitar, banjo), Chris Novak (keyboards), & Robert Scott
(bassist) had a really good stage presence. The crowd livened up a bit, and a few people
were bopping around. My favorite song was definitely "A Dinner with Richard Petty."
Jeff lets his Michael Stipe-side out, with his fast-paced vocals that are easily comparable
to R.E.M's "It's the End of the World…" Although their sound is mostly country, they did
perform a few more rock-ish tunes. I'm not usually one for the yeehaw-ish music, but I really
enjoyed their performance. The guitarist, Mike was in front of my mom and I, and he kept
bopping around, being a little rockstar. After their set was over around 12:20, my mom and
I headed back home. My local music assistant, Melanie wasn't able to go, and it definitely
seemed strange without her being there, but I still had a good time with me mum.