[Photo by CHAZ BOWIE]
BY PELLE GUNTHER To kick off what would turn into one of the most entertaining concerts I’ve ever attended, the openers, a pop band called Blair, played a very cute and pretty set of songs. Their talent was showcased by the lead singer’s breathy vocals as well as song structure well above that of average pop songs.
Blair parted ways, and Khaela Maricich [pictured, above] the quirky songwriter and unexpected comedic genius known as The Blow began her act without any warning, as the filler music was cut short to be replaced by a flat, metronome-sounding beat. Over this beat Khaela sang a strange a-cappella cover of The Eagles’ Peaceful Easy Feeling, which segued into her hit Hey Boy, coupled with awkward jerky dance moves that were to say the least, extremely entertaining.
After this, comedy struck. She started with a story about a tune she’d written for a world famous pop star, who had a lesbian affair (I can only assume this star was Lindsay Lohan). After playing the track she proceeded to show us the shoes of this pop star and after donning them and striking her sexiest pop pose, which was still unbelievably awkward, she asked the audience “Do I look like a pop star? Do I look like a world famous lesbian?” Then played a track from called “Parentheses” from her newest album Paper Television. Undeniably the best part of the night came when she told us her vocal instructor had insisted that she stand in her pop star stance for the entirety of a song. Which she did with gusto, only to turn on a house fan half way through the song so her hair flew wildly, completing her ridiculous pop star persona.
Khaela described herself in the concert better than any reviewer ever could. She said that her choreographer had once been asked what its like to be Khaela and he had replied that aside from the quirky smurf dance, she was “…kind of cool but kind of square. A girl who would listen to the Velvet Underground while reading the New York Times.” After this she suddenly said that she wanted one of the stage lights off because it was too fake, then another light, and another until we were left in the utter dark to her banter about how fake cell phones are.
While she messed up the lyrics to her songs a few times, she was so personable about it and able to laugh at her own mistakes it almost didn’t matter. She was much more of a girl showing off her songs to some friend than a performer, as she laughed and joked and made commentary even in the midst of her biggest songs. Something about this attitude was so welcoming that the mistakes that would have broken another band, just made her more appealing. She ended the night with her song True Affection. The full force of the humor of that night could never be properly caught on paper, but it was a show that left me happier than I’ve been in a long time. It was definitely a feel good experience well worth the watch should you ever catch The Blow in town again.