Where Adia Victoria Stumbles, Strand Of Oaks Shines
By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 19, 2015 8:05PM
(Strand Of Oak/Photo: Dusdin Condren)
When we heard Adia Victoria's only release, "Stuck in the South," we were intrigued to see what she would bring to the stage, and maybe get an idea as to what we could expect from her in the future. So we checked out her set at Lincoln Hall Saturday night.
She began the set pounding on a drum with a large mallet, over and over again. The band then lurched with a sultry, swampy blues lick that kept cycling over and over and over while Victoria let loose with her subdued, raspy voice.
But it was apparent right away that we had found an extremely green band that, at this point, seems nowhere near ready for the next big step. They fumbled their way through the 30-minute set, getting through each song without any sense of urgency or intensity. The rhythm section struggled to find a groove as they played behind the beat, then ahead of it, sometimes within the same song. Victoria, herself, performed well but struggled to interact with audience between songs.
Victoria has a good voice, and she uses it well to reveal her angry, eerie tales of misery. It's smoky and sexy and it works for the bluesy tunes she's written. That is, by far, her greatest attribute and the one thing that she can build upon as she moves along in her career.
Musically, it's very basic blues. So basic that they sound like the very first songs many artists have written. Victoria has an usual finger-picking style, but rarely does she stray from familiar pentatonic scales and most of her songs are just two or three chords played repetitively. All the songs in the set were slower in tempo, exempt for one ZZ Top-style boogie.
Lyrically, Victoria also treads in very familiar blues territory. She's got songs about troubles and woe. She's got personal stories of her childhood. She's got a song about the devil.
In short, there is very little that's special about Victoria's show at this point. She is a new artist, yes, and she has a voice and a handful of clever lyrics to carry her through this tour. But she has a lot of work to do to really grab our attention in the future.
Victoria was the opening performer Saturday, and the headliner Strand of Oaks—another up and coming act—showed the audience how to put on solid show. Frontman Timothy Showalter is a dynamic performer who seems to thrive when he sees a crowd and the spotlight is on him. He has a clear mission when he takes the stage— show these people a good time. And it's easy to see he enjoys this mission and tackling it.
"Let's make this night special," he said as he and his mates kicked off their set.
Showalter seemed genuinely excited to see a near-capacity crowd at Lincoln Hall and was thrilled as he pointed out his parents were sitting in the balcony for the show.
Strand of Oaks played a very similar set when we caught them this past summer, so they have it nailed down. Still they attack it with such enthusiasm that it's tough not to get caught up in the moment as Showalter and the crew play. They have a knack for making rock 'n' roll exciting, freeing and liberating.
And they give you quite a roller coaster ride in the process. At heart, Showalter is a folk singer, but he knows how ramp up his tunes and to generate excitement. However, he also slowed things down and played some rather sad tunes of loss and longing. But it was for just a moment before things revved up again. It was a nice break to the pace of the show, and made the final push that much more energizing.
These two sets were near opposites. Where Victoria and her band wilted, Strand of Oaks charged. Where Victoria and mates stumbled, Stand of Oaks stepped up.