Shannon McNally & Todd Thibaud (6/29/05)



[I'm sitting here in the waiting room while my dog Oslo is getting evaluated for his hip replacement surgery. It's going to be along day, so what better chance to update you on some of the shows I want to share.]

When I was planning my trip to Philadelphia earlier this summer for the NECC conference (I can't believe it's been that long ago already), I did some checking into the live music scene, and into what venues might have some worthy shows. The one venue that stood out was the Tin Angel. There were two shows that were worth checking out while I was there: Laura Cantrell w/ Paul Burch and Shannon McNally w/ Todd Thibaud. I didn't buy tickets in advance because I didn't know what my schedule would be like while I was there, so I took my chances buying them at the door.

As it turned out I couldn't make the Laura Cantrell show, but I did make it to see Shannon & Todd. The Tin Angel was a very nice venue, upstairs from the Serrano restaurant (which I wanted to make it to, but couldn't). It was long, narrow with a small stage and some funky fun art on the walls.

Todd Thibaud opened. Whoa he was hot... built, bald, and had a deep voice that I could listen to all day. Just listening to him talk was a pleasure. He had another guy on stage playing a bitchin' mandolin (yeah, I didn't know a mandolin couldn't be bitchin' either). His music was great, with a likening to Dan Bern meets Bruce Springsteen. I grabbed a CD afterward and thanked him for a great show.

While I was there, I also planned to visit my cousin Neil. This was one of my last nights there, and my last chance to hang out with him and another colleague. I was kinda getting antsy waiting for Shannon and figured if she wasn't stunning, that I would split to spend more time visiting.

Shannon came out, squeezed her 5 piece band on the stage, and announced that this was her CD release party. She had also played on WXPN earlier that day, which had reminded me how great Philadelphians have it with a station like that (origin of the World Cafe for christ sake). Her voice was soulful, and had reminded me of Sheryl Crow meets Norah Jones (w/ a sprinkling of Lucinda Williams). Overall, she was decent. Didn't have a great stage presence and nothing really stood out about the music. After about half her set, I swung to the back of the bar and saw her CD was $18! Now I would pay $10, even $15 for a CD at a show, but I wouldn't pay that much (especially for someone on a major label). I also tried buying a cool Tin Angel T-Shirt but they were sold out... which reminds me I should check and see if I can buy one online.

That next night I hung out with my friend Robin who lives in Philadelphia. She showed me some of the town outside of downtown, and I got to see the beginning setup of the Live 8 stage. I was somewhat sad that I had to leave the day before the show, but I also don't think I would have had much fun with a crowd of that size (and Philly probably had the least exciting line-up for me).

Overall, Philadelphia is a great city and I really enjoyed my time there. I highly recommend visiting, and definitely check out the Tin Angel.

Also, here's my favorite song from the Todd Thibaud album I bought. It's called "Isn't Love My Friend":

Here are some of my other favorite places that I would highly recommend:
Good Dog Bar - Great Crowd & Dog Conscious!
The Khyber - $1 Yuenglings for Happy Hour!
AKA Music - Kick-ass Music Store (which I can't even seem to find an official site for)

Posted: Wed - September 28, 2005 at 02:50 AM           |

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