So on Thursday evening, City Slang made it’s now-regular weekly appearance on the Motor City Special show, and the segment, though delayed by two hours, was sweet. Host Kevin Pachla and I discussed the Howling Diablos, Big Chief, Cactus and more. Meanwhile, fellow guest Mark Arminski, artist extraordinaire, talked up the forthcoming People’s Arts Festival. The two live performances that I saw, though, were stunning.
Citizen Smile have always been a great live band but up to now they haven’t, in my opinion, managed to get that energy down on record. Hopefully that’ll change soon, because the trio of new songs that they played for the show were all stunning. Guitarists Kory Kopchick and James Brown make a stellar six-string partnership, and Brown is an increasingly passionate singer. I don’t know what the last song they played was called, but it recalls Snow Patrol (in a good way).
Patrick Davy & the Ghosts, on the other hand, had previously failed to capture my imagination at shows, but I had given the trio’s Outside Empty mini-album a great review. Tonight, they rock. Davy is turning into a great front man and charisma is spreading all over him like a welcome rash. He’s also a smart lyricist and a talented songwriter, and the song “Where It Began” is breathtaking in its simple, understated beauty.
I don’t know as yet who’s on the show next Thursday but whoever it is will have to go a long way to follow these two.
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