Alden Penner Reborn
Don't quote me on this. For all I know this could have been a one-off event, but Alden Penner was definitely rock n' roll reborn at the Friendship Cove on Saturday. I've always been a fan of Alden's, from his days in the Unicorns to his (until now) softer intrumental solo material. And I've always made an attempt to catch him play whenever the opportunity arose, but I hadn't seen him actually sing since I last saw him with the Unicorns.
Actually, that's not true. I vaguely remember him singing the first time I saw him perform solo material post-Unicorns in April 2005. But I hadn't seen him sing the way he did on Saturday since his days in the Unicorns. And more importantly, I hadn't seen him play songs like these since, either. It was a three piece band that consisted of Brendan Reed (on drums and occasionally bass), and a girl with an accordian who also aided Alden (who played electric guitar mostly) with the various marimba/glockenspiel/vibraphone setup on stage.
It was basically everything you'd expect Alden to contribute to a second Unicorns album, had the band stayed together; pop-y rock n roll with brilliant song-structure, sometimes soft and sometimes crunchy. Vocals delivered with both sweetness and deseperation. And I swear they played 'the Clap' for about 30 seconds.
I've got no idea whether this band will be playing more shows, or whether Alden plans to record and release any of this material, but it was definitely fun to see him in that role again. Here's hoping there's more to come.
Actually, that's not true. I vaguely remember him singing the first time I saw him perform solo material post-Unicorns in April 2005. But I hadn't seen him sing the way he did on Saturday since his days in the Unicorns. And more importantly, I hadn't seen him play songs like these since, either. It was a three piece band that consisted of Brendan Reed (on drums and occasionally bass), and a girl with an accordian who also aided Alden (who played electric guitar mostly) with the various marimba/glockenspiel/vibraphone setup on stage.
It was basically everything you'd expect Alden to contribute to a second Unicorns album, had the band stayed together; pop-y rock n roll with brilliant song-structure, sometimes soft and sometimes crunchy. Vocals delivered with both sweetness and deseperation. And I swear they played 'the Clap' for about 30 seconds.
I've got no idea whether this band will be playing more shows, or whether Alden plans to record and release any of this material, but it was definitely fun to see him in that role again. Here's hoping there's more to come.
posted by Andrew Rose at 2:12 PM
3 Comments:
i heard a couple of songs from the hamster cage soundtrack and they are so different. i really can't wait until it comes out! the instrumental songs are beautiful!
the "girl with accordion" is named Bethany, and she has her own band as well: Shanghai Trio.
yup, thanks Helen. and plays in a third band, too, whose name Alden recently mentioned to me, but has slipped my mind.
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