Music seen at Bull Moose, Scarborough, February 9, 2008
By CHAD CHAMBERLAIN | February 13, 2008
Cambiata gave a rare turned-down set at the Scarborough Bull Moose store. For many bands that is a very vulnerable position: loose ends and mistakes are more noticeable at low volume. But, as it happens, Cambiata don’t have loose ends, so they only exposed their more obscure musical references.
Guitarist Sean Morin played a Rhodes piano instead, and his vocal harmonies could be heard even without a mic. Chris Moulton’s vocals were the loudest instrument, and didn't need the mic they had. The influences of vocalists Jeff Buckley and Aaron Weiss were more discernable than usual in his multi-dimensional melodies.
The setting's acoustics weren’t conducive to dynamic inflection, which meant sections of their songs that usually build required pretext. But in the quiet, their songwriting technique showed, pulling as much from academics as from the rock sphere.
"Shards of Pornography" was played in the very style it references — slow, R&Bish, and devoid of rock character. They played unreleased songs from their catalog that might not fit their usual rock-venue performances, and ended with a classic cover of "Blizzard of ’77" by Nada Surf.
A regular local rock band might have been jittery where Cambiata was confident, further demonstrating that their main concern is not others' opinions but their own.
On the Web
Cambiata: MySpace.com/Cambiata
Topics:
Live Reviews
, Jeff Buckley
, Chris Moulton
, Nada Surf
