The Garage is one of my favourite mid-sized venues with a high wide stage giving good sight lines wherever you are. It’s never over sold so there always room to get around.
We saw Timothy Showalter and chums last September at the Lexington for an amazing gig and I was tempted to just cut and paste that review. (http://garyw66.weebly.com/blog/archives/09-2014) The difference tonight is the absence of the super talented Eliza Jones, the keyboardist. So we strap in for what promises to be a full on rock show. And the Lord said let it be so.
Opening the night with the title track of their recent album ‘HEAL’ and then straight into ‘Goshen ‘97’ sets the scene for the next 80 minutes. The band tonight is supplemented with a second guitarist who acts as the perfect foil to Tim.
‘Shut In’ is an obvious favourite and my song of the year last year but tonight it’s the hauntingly beautiful ‘Woke up to the light’ that stands out for me. It highlights the subtlety of his voice and it is a real hair standing on the back of the neck moment.
There are some stylistic comparisons to be made between Strand of Oaks and War on Drugs but last year saw one delivering one of the most overrated albums of last year and the other delivering one of the most underrated. On current form give me the mighty oaks.
Like September there’s genuine emotion and gratitude to the fans. You can’t compare the two gigs as they were very different but I for one would pay to see these songs reinterpreted again in an acoustic setting along with the great Eliza on harmonies and organ.
Keep on rockin' y’all