Miz Metro with revamped and extended Makebelievers line up and a new hair style was looking and sounding good at their first Joe’s Pub appearance. This young group keeps getting better every time I see them play (I recorded their CD which just came out and was mixed by LA producer Ray Chervenka and I saw her at SXSW in 08 and 09) and her facial expressions and vocal versatility definitely captivate the crowd every time.
Originally I came to see Laura but I stayed for Ma’ayan Castel’s set whose music I was new to. Castel has a sexy and mature voice that reminds me a little bit of Amy Winehouse. The supporting is made of pro’s who grooved together like only pros can do and were agumented by pre-recorded loops and some background vocals that thr drummer was clicking along).
Both girls have talent to sell and should be followed.

My friend Robbie Angelucci is in town from LA for a few days so I’m taking him around the city and showing him the cool places. Of course I could not not take him over to Rockwood, one of my favorite music venues in town, and it really paid off. After dinner we headed over there and without knowing any of the bands on the bill we walked in around 11pm at the very beginning of Poundcacke‘s set. Poundcake is  bunch of very talented cats: drummer/producer Ethan Eubanks (who plays with Kin, Emerson Hart, The Gray Race etc) on drums, vocals and jokes, Teddy Thompson on vocals and guitar (who enjoys a successful solo career you should check out), the perennially busy Jeff Hill on upright bass and vocals (who you can also see touring with Rufus Wainwright, Brazilian Girls and many others). Given the caliber and experiences of these individual you can imagine that the bar was set very high and the show was a magic collection of great old tunes.

Thinking we got lucky because we came here and it wasn’t just a good band but it was a really great band, I thought that would remain the only musical highlight of the evening but the next band was actually just as good! On the bill it said they were called “Fangbangers” but it turns out it was only a decoy. The female trio actually goes by Puss n Boots and features another amazing set of musically gifted individuals: Sasha Dobson on guitars, vocals and drums (no, not all at the same time, although I am sure she could pull that off if she wanted to), Catherine Popper on bass and vocals (another perennially busy touring bass player like Hill) and Norah Jones (hence the need for a decoy) on vocals and guitars (the only band member on the stage to remain un-introduced to keep the whole thing under the radar). The girls did a great show, filled with beautiful tunes, angelic voices and heartfelt captivating performances which kept everyone’s eyes glued on them.

All in all I’d say it was a great evening. It’s easy to have great evenings at Rockwood but I think this topped many of the one’s I’ve had.