I go into most shows with a certain set of expectations, and I’ve found that shows that both live up to and subvert those expectations are among the best.
With Cold Specks, I expected to leave TT the Bear’s Wednesday night feeling a little bit emotionally drained. Instead, I couldn’t help but grin.
Al Spx, the Canadian singer-songwriter Cold Specks, played a role in building up those expectations. Early on in the set, a fan in the back of the room made a request for “Elephant Head,” just about the saddest song off of 2012’s I Predict A Graceful Expulsion. She replied that she’d get to the older stuff later on. She even teased it before she closed with “A Formal Invitation,” by saying “We’ll come back if you, you know, give us a little something.”
When the encore rolled around, she apologized and said she hates the song “Elephant Head” and chose to perform “Old Stepstone” – a song without any accompaniment – and a cover instead. Bait and switch!
Admittedly, I did wish I could hear the tearjerker, but my disappointment was unfounded. “Old Stepstone” was absolutely beautiful. She started the song with a microphone, but when she realized that the crowd was so quiet that the only thing you could hear was her voice and the occasional bass thump from the adjacent Middle East Downstairs, she put the mic behind her back. It’s a trick she employed earlier in the set, but during the encore, it was especially moving.
And then, her backing band returned for the cover song: “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child. Her backing guitarist asked “are we really doing this?” as he returned to the stage. Instead of leaving the venue nearly wiping away tears from my eyes, I was grinning from ear to ear – it was such a fun cover.
Spx subverted my own expectations in other ways, too: her stage banter was quite funShe told a “knock-knock” joke and when the crowd acquiesced and replied with “who’s there?” she replied and said, “You should have asked ‘Who’s dead inside?’ because then I would say ‘me.'” This led to slightly bewildered laughter from the crowd.
Playing cuts off of both Expulsion and her newest album, Neuroplasticity, Spx and her band were truly on point, especially when you consider that Boston was the first stop on a nationwide tour. “A Formal Invitation” was a standout from the new record, where Spx sang into an effects microphone that echoed a line throughout the songs outro.
The highlight of the Expulsion tracks was a tie between “Holland” and “Blank Maps.” The latter was performed with the band on stage, but they did nothing but sit on the floor and/or stare at the ground. The exceptional lyric, “I am, I am a god damn believer,” resonated beautifully.
Spx has a powerfully beautiful voice that is full of soul. On record it sounds great, and in the points where it was unimpeded by amplification live – it’s downright stunning.
This was Cold Specks’ first Boston-area headlining show. With any luck, we’ll have many more of them to come – and maybe then we’ll get to hear “Elephant Head.”
Cambridge’s own folk rockers Friendly People opened and proved you can still have a foot-stompin’ good time without the assistance of a dedicated drummer. Instead, the band alternated who would play a single drum and cymbal.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Pat McCusker’s best moments were when he conveyed deep emotion – in other words, when he yelled the choruses. But in all, Friendly People put on a good set of poppy moments that were hugely accessible. And the agility with which they were able to make do without a drummer was pretty special.
Cold Specks is on tour now.
