Brian Slattery Photo
“Thank you all so much for coming,” said Lys Guillorn near the end of her second Big Little Sunday Show at Cafe Nine. “If not for this, I’d be sitting at home in my Hello Kitty Pajamas, reading detective novels.”
Guillorn’s three Big Little Sunday Shows this winter (the next one is Feb. 22) each feature eight different acts, each performing short, casual sets that let the musicians relax — and experiment.
The shows came about when Margaret Milano, who books shows at Cafe Nine, “was looking to fill up some Sundays, and I was reminiscing about the Battlecats Sundays — these afternoon shows that were a blast to attend and play,” said Guillorn. “I seem to remember playing some Battlecats Sundays that I wasn’t booked for. Someone would just hand me a guitar and I’d get up and play.”
So she decided to try a similar concept.
New Haven-based Kevin MF King started off the second Big Little Sunday this past weekend with a set of tension-filled songs and instrumentals, executed with skill.
“This is a song my friend Ben wrote,” he said, to introduce one of them. “Unfortunately he is in prison now for two and a half years.” He launched into the song and then stopped halfway through, declaring it to be too much of a “bummer.”
“Let’s try a little death metal,” he said, and proceeded to shred on his nylon-stringed guitar, foot stomping as though he had a kick drum.
The next set was Chica Non Grata’s “very first performance” of the material, with Julie Beman on keyboards and lead vocals, Eric Bloomquist on bass and backing vocals, and a drum machine.
The result was a sort of Nico-meets-dark-‘80s pop, with strains of industrial noise in it, especially when Bloomquist hit a series of pedals in front of him, distorted his bass, and climbed up the neck to play high.
The first Big Little Sunday was in December. “My intention was just to do it for the winter,” Guillorn said. “It’s helping me get through the winter, having these things booked, because live local music is one of the things that makes me the happiest.”
The acts for the first show were booked “literally on a Facebook thread — the first people who said something were the people who played.” She booked the second and third Big Little Sundays from the spillover. “I tried to pick to acts that were different enough so that the whole afternoon is interesting,” she said.
The members of New Haven’s own Rope strutted through their set with the simplicity and confidence of musicians who have played a lot of gigs over the years. Their straight rock ‘n’ roll was relaxed without being mellow; as Dave Hurd and Ron Sutphin laid down a strong groove on bass and drums, guitarist and singer Sal Paradise’s fingers slid easily over the frets to take solos full of tasty phrases, without any wasted notes.
“Some of these songs are so new I’m still writing them,” said teacher, musician, poet, and independent radio producer Ken Cormier. He twitched through his material like he was the artistic cousin of Mark Mothersbaugh.
“Usually we have a drummer,” said Joe Russo, lead singer and guitarist for the Danbury-based Spectral Fangs. “But this is what you get.”
Not having Jared Thompson on the skins didn’t seem to slow Russo or bassist Tony Mascolo down much, though — especially when Russo fired up a drum machine, proceeded to layer a few loops of guitar over it and Mascolo’s bass, and then sat down behind a couple of drums himself to bring the song to a raucous close.
“That rocked!” someone yelled at the end.
“Thank you, person I cannot see,” Russo said, good-naturedly. “My glasses broke during that one.”
What accounts for the Big Little Sunday Shows being so casual?
“Maybe people feel comfortable with me,” Guillorn said. “I do have a disproportionate number of friends who are musicians. But it’s also Cafe Nine on a Sunday.
“I think New Haven lends itself to experimentation and weirdness,” she added. “We’re all supporting each other, not trying to kick each other down. Everyone’s trying to help each other, because what else are you going to do?”
Adam Matlock, a.k.a. An Historic, plays his songs and compositions in various configurations, from full band to trios to solo. At the Little Big Show, he did a set of his songs with just him, his accordion, and a small strip of sleigh bells tied to his shoe for percussion. This let the audience focus on the words — and there are a lot of them — and Matlock’s own unique, powerful voice.
“Fantastic,” said Beman from Chica Non Grata at the end of one burst of applause.
Guillorn herself then got up for a set of covers and originals, just her and a warm electric guitar.
“The muse gives us whiplash,” she said at the end of one number to announce a change in mood.
“Quotable,” said someone from the audience.
“Yes, I’m afraid,” she said, then paraphrased The Fly: “Very afraid.”
Art-punk band Zoo Front – Ed Ekendu and Nancie Tief on vocals and guitars and Julie Riccio on drums – closed out the Big Little Show with a quirky, danceable set of originals.
By then the afternoon light had long vanished. It was only dinnertime. But it was as though we’d all gone out for the evening already.
“As far as Connecticut goes, New Haven is the most happening city,” Guillorn said. “New Haven doesn’t really need bumper stickers that say ‘Keep New Haven Weird,’ because it just kind of is.”
The next and last of Lys Guillorn’s Big Little Sunday shows is on Feb. 22, 3 – 7 p.m., at Cafe Nine, 250 State St.
