Quarantine Online Sets: Version 76

The last Wonder & Awe series of 2020 occurred last Monday. Per Brenda Carsey who puts on the weekly series, said she plans to take a few weeks off at the start of 2021 so this was the last one for a few weeks.

Glacial Palms opened up the round from Silverlake. The three siblings played in their living room. A Christmas tree decked out in all white decorations and their TV had a recording of a fireplace. The song they sang had an Irish/"Once" sound to it. It just slowly unfolded for us. They used a loop recorder to provide additional guitar music.

Ali May Angel came in from West Hollywood. She was having some sound issues, but it didn't matter too much. Her song "You Only Call Me After Midnight" had a deep blues country sound to it. Throughout the round, she also had thoughtful comments about everyone's song. 

Harry Katz came in from Hollywood. His room had a panel divider up to separate the living room from his concert area. He started his first song and then had to quickly stop playing. His headphones were getting in the way of his playing. With that taken care of, he played with Southern rock flair. He took his pick playing up a notch. Brenda Carsey said of his song, "Rustic beauty of a voice." 

Closing out the round was Brenda Carsey coming from Pasadena. Her song was "Bang Bang." It was a song about gun violence. The song dealt with sorrow and frustration with both slams and tender touches of the keyboard. I could really see that song in a Pixar movie when it deals with a particularly sad moment of the story. 

Quarantine Online Sets: Version 71

Wonder & Awe Productions hit Facebook / Zoom on a recent Monday night. Wonder & Awe Productions is put on by Brenda Carsey. The performers go through rounds versus sets. 

Starting off the rounds was McKail Seely who was celebrating her 27th birthday. Her set had a country leaning and one of her songs was about a breakup that occurred just as she starting quarantine. Her comment of the night had to be, "My ego just had an orgasm."

Kid Lightning followed. His guitar playing really inspired me. I was thinking, "Wow, that guitar playing sounds thrilling." His vocals layered a folk-country sound. Lyrics of the set, "This is the era of the taker. Our architecture is just built that way." He has a real way with words. 

This was my third time catching Chase Petra. I've only seen this band online. Kind of interesting fact. They were all wearing masks and dedicated one of their songs to the capitalist overlords. Their use of masks as well as their distance from the microphone gave their music a muffled sound. 

Ending each round was Brenda Carsey. Her first song had a big, old school, showtune sound to it. Another tune was like the music from The Rocky Horror Picture Show or watching Dracula rise from the grave. Her vocals can soar like very few and her keyboard playing had the camera shaking. 

Quarantine Online Sets: Version 55

I dropped by Wonder & Awe Productions for the first time since the start of quarantine. Brenda Carsey organizes the nights where the singers do rounds via Zoom on Facebook. I stuck around for 2 rounds. Starting it off was Pozzi. Lyrics of the round, "Watching the years passing by . . . " His lyrics are emotional poetry. One thing about livestreams is sometimes you get to see their books on the shelves, but I can never make out the titles. 

From top left: Brenda Carsey, Pozzi, Ari Tibi, Jess Jones

Next up was Ari Tibi. "Dancing in the Moonlight." She was coming to us from the beach and had poor WiFi. A couple times she just froze. The lyrics just rolled off her tongue with smooth style. She happened to mention that she clicks her tongue by habit. 

Jess Jones was coming to us from San Diego. She wrote a song about Slab City. Brenda Carsey said she was going to Slab City for her anniversary. A mellow mood with a blues style. 

Brenda Carsey hit some deep notes and then took her voice up the scale. She has those power vocals that make her a songstress on keyboards. I noticed that she was playing her piano while seated on one of those office mesh office chairs.