Great American Music Hall // San Francisco, CA // June 16
Con Brio warmed up the audience with their up-tempo, soulful jazz. The band worked really well, and Xandra Corpora has an awesome voice that lures out the dancer in you. You couldn’t help but move to the music. The rest of the band could have used a spring in their step to match the music, though. The stiff performance was in a slightly weird contrast to the lively music.
The main act, Sioux City Kid, lit the venue on fire with their loud and rough American rock and roll. It’s hard to put them in any musical box, but that doesn’t mean that it is hard to enjoy their music. You can hear blues, gypsy jazz, ’50s rock and many other flavors in the music. The songs are intimate, pondering stories revolving around relationships and other real-life situations. Even though the music is fast and up-beat, the lyrics can be melancholic and blues-like.
Sioux City Kid sounded great even though there were obvious technical problems with the guitars. The songs and performance rolled fluidly and there was an air of confidence about the band that made it hard to believe they’ve only released one full length album. Jared Griffin has raspy voice that sounds like rough life itself, with a playful cockiness to it. The other main attraction of the band is Davey Diamonds on guitar, constantly moving and jumping around and abusing riffs and solos on his axe. The rest of the band played supporting roles in this production but did that very well. There wasn’t a weak link in the set, except for that guitar amp.
photos by Miikka Skaffari