Last night, I needed to get out of the house and focus on my homework for a while, so with a little looking around, I found that the Langdon Street Cafe in Montpelier was hosting Dan Kaplan and Leland Sundries for a performance last night. Giving Kaplan a listen via his myspace page, I decided it would be a good way to get out of the house for a couple hours while I caught up on my readings.
Dan was up first, and unfortunately, his was the only set list that I was able to get for the night. No pictures either, because I left my camera at home. Here's what he played:
Set List (Partial)
1 - Balancing Act
2 - To Stay With You Again Tonight
3 - Louisiana
4 - Tell Me Why
5 - The City's still sleeping... (lyric) Feels Like Home?
6 - Thick as Thieves
7 - Who We Are
8 - Goodbye Blue Monday
Dan's performance was the stronger of the two. Leland Sundries (monkier of Nick Loss-Eaton) has an interesting sound along the lines of Bright Eyes, but it's not entirely what I prefer. However, his guitarwork really stands out, with a sound out of the rock & roll era of teh 1950s and 60s, which was a really cool thing to hear.
Of the two, Nick was the stronger guitar player, and when the two of them played together, they worked very well, with Dan's vocals and Nick's guitarwork. The two are a good pairing for their short northeast tour around New England, and hopefully they can work together again, because I think that with some time, they could have some real promise.
I'll be talking more about Dan later on today with a review of his latest EP, Stranger Lands. He plays with an acoustic/indie rock/folk style, somewhat reminiscent of Matt Nathanson's or Chris Still's sound, which is a positive note in my book. He mentioned a couple of times that he was working on a new album, although didn't say when. He'll certainly be someone to keep an eye on in the near future.
Overall, the performance was a pretty good one. I got my homework done, took in some good music, got out of the house and enjoyed myself.
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