Free from all glitz, glam and gimmicks Hey Rosetta warmed the capacity crowd of the Paragon Saturday night. The St. John’s melody makers lived up to all expectations.
Opening the evening was the Brooklyn five piece, La Strada.
Their sound is composed of carefully placed folk, rock and classical touches that compiles into a soft, moody vibe. They are certainly one of those bands that seeing live really gives you a good first impression. After going over their myspace a few times after the show I would score their recordings a few notches below their live performance.
Quickly moving along Jon McKiel plugged in and switched things up a bit. His brand of rock is based around quirky lyrics, simple bar chords, and an insecure but interesting stage presence. Jon reminded me a lot of Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo. Low mic stand, closed, glazed eyes and not exactly an oozing personality. McKiel and his band did a nice mix of songs ranging from folky numbers like “Get Caught” to grungy rock songs like “Violent Dreams”, a Thrush Hermit cover.
About thirty minutes into Sunday Hey Rosetta filled the Paragon stage for an hour and a half set of east coast rock.
The thing that impresses me about Hey Rosetta is that it is completely about playing good music for people to enjoy, they are purists through and through. They don’t rely on a stage presence, a rock star look, fancy equipment or anything superficial: it is only about the music. Front man Tim Baker has got some serious wind, time after time his vocals blew me away. Josh Ward took a bass solo mid way through a song (I forget what song it was during) that blew me away, the guy can play that’s for sure. They seem to have a script for what works and what doesn’t and it sure makes for a consistent performance. All of the members seem to be very talented in their own disciplines but they rarely flaunt their solo skills. Basically each member had one point in the show to showcase their playing for a small section of one song, one again these guys are purists.
The crowd was an interesting mix of liquor soaked students, 30 something’s, and big time fans. By the encore I am pretty sure Hey Rosetta had won over everyone in the bar but when they closed the night with The Faces sing along "Ooh La La" there wasn't a soul who wasn't singing, swaying or stomping along. The pace of the show kept the spirits up and the toes tapping but sure made the night fly by to say the least. Hey Rosetta has the perfect mix of folk, pop, rock, and east coast flavour to pave a bright future.
Highly recommended to pick up their albums and or see them live.
Keep the beat,
Jesse James
