Melissa fired off a shot across the bow of city living's outer borough ennui then chased it with a casual, “I’m going to sing,” then sauntered to the front of the room and settled behind the open mic stand. Josh was already posted up, finding the handful of notes that Robbie, Rick, and the boys carved into barroom eternity and Winter(wonder)lands fifty years ago; Mark was in his hip pocket as usual as they all pulled into Nazareth.
Here at HyperLocal we love the 8:30/9:30 start, the long night, the late bloom, the bonus track that, if you stick around, gets a rarely or never seen spot in the set list. So yes, we were present and accounted for Friday night (that would be Friday, 02 May - dates will matter) to watch Josh Ayala continue bringing more soul than he has any right to have in reserve (have you seen his calendar?) to the Barley Neck Inn.
And can I go on about Mark Usher hopping flitting along, rooftop note to rooftop note? Yes. Could I pick up the still-warm torch, embers glowing, smoking more than you'd think, and run into the woods hollaring about Missy pulling her voice from what can feel like underneath her diaphragm? I could.
But then we wouldn’t get to the fine print.
And the fine print is this: Saturday afternoon (03 May, toldju there’d be a callback), from 1-4p at the very same Barley Neck Inn, there will (quietly) be a (/another, maybe a more formal) remembrance for the man who likely co-founded and certainly inspired this music scene we’re able to enjoy in the Lower & Outer Cape, Bruce Maclean.
That's the tone setter. If Friday night was the amuse bouche, Saturday afternoon is the tone setter ... what's Saturday night? Slow cooked meat, falling off the bone. The Slant Four are playing at Hog Island in Orleans from 6-9p leaving just enough time to get down to the Squire and see The Dirty Water Dance Band at 930 until they turn the lights on.
Stay hydrated, see you in the wreckage.
•••••
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