Frank Critelli and James Velvet at the John Slade Ely house

Frank Critelli and James Velvet at the John Slade Ely house - 9/30/06

It was the album release party for both Frank and James and both played their new albums straight through. I've seen that kind of thing before and was always disappointed, but I think it worked out this time.

Frank's new album, Before You Break, is a monumental leap forward for his songwriting. For maybe the first time, he succeeds at arranging songs for a band and moves away from the signature solo sound he has developed. For the release, he played with just a drummer, but that was enough to hint at the shape of the album. It was nice to hear the songs live and productionless. There are studio effects on many of the recorded songs and that certainly adds to the album in many ways, but the rawness of the live performance was a good contrast. In both cases, "Ahead or Behind" is my favorite of the new batch. It's a lurching song in 6/8 with circus barker vocals. I'd love to hear Tom Waits do a version. All the new songs are pretty decent. "It's the Way" sounds like it should be on a movie soundtrack. Some of the songs suffer a bit by the production, especially the percussion. "Before You Break" is a very strong song, but the double tracked vocals are unsettling; it would have benefitted from either being bigger or smaller. All told, the songwriting and the arrangements on the new album are very good, the production is imperfect, but sometimes adds just the right touch.

James Velvet is a natural showman. He has an easy, comfortable presence under the spotlight of performance. He makes it hard to fault his songwriting. I haven't heard the album, so I can only judge the performance. He played with a full band of drums, electric bass, backup acoustic guitar and fiddle featuring local lumineries Patsy O'Brien and Joe Gerhard. Sometimes political, sometimes personal; these are big american folk songs.

They wrapped the show with a James Velvet classic featuring all the night's performers.

Also: Normally an art gallery in an old victorian house, the John Slade Ely house was a great venue. It provided the perfect ambience for a night like this.


Here's a video of Frank playing "Ahead or Behind"




Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/oldangelmidnight/sets/72157594323034081/

etc.
http://www.myspace.com/frankcritelli
http://www.jamesvelvet.com/