Brian Slattery Photos
Wolf.
Laura Wolf, surrounded by a cello, a mixer, an interface, and an array of pedals, eyed the crowd who had come to Best Video Thursday night. “I’m not much of a stage talker, but you can ask me questions after the show.”
At the end of her set, a few musicians in the audience did just that, asking for a tour of her setup and swapping information about gear, because in the world of making music with acoustic instruments and effects, Wolf — who opened for Dave Scanlon — had figured a few things out.
Using and manipulating the sound of her voice and instrument, and sometimes introducing more electronic elements, musician Laura Wolf built her music layer by layer, creating pieces that felt more like compositions than songs, with each element thought out, in its own place, creating a cohesive whole. Like many musicians who use loops, she made the creation of the song part of the song itself. Watching her play in the elements one by one allowed a better appreciation for the whole. But for all of the plotting out of the music — and it was worked out to the point that Wolf didn’t have to stop between songs — there were still plenty of elements of surprise, whether it was in some of the edgier tones she pulled from her cello or the trick of using a pair of headphones as an alternative microphone to feed more muffled vocals into her pedals. The overall effect was to draw the audience deeper into her music and build tension.
“Thanks for being here — it’s been really sweet,” she said, as the music persisted around her, giving the audience no chance to respond. When her unbroken set ended with a simple “thanks!” the pent-up applause burst from the audience like a champagne cork.
Scanlon.
Dave Scanlon and Wolf shared certain sensibilities that made them a good pairing for the evening — a predilection for exploring unusual song structures, intricate arrangements, complicated lyrics, melodies that turned in unexpected directions. But while Wolf put together her songs from a series of sometimes disparate elements, Scanlon relied on the more traditional elements of voice and picked guitar, though he used them in more unique ways, and with equal impact.
The seriousness of his intent was clear from the start. “These are sacred songs from a personal practice,” he said toward the beginning of his set. “That’s the headline.” Most of the songs he performed, he said, were new, written during the pandemic, though a few he had found on an old computer and resuscitated; it was as though they were new.
But there was room for humor, too. “They’ve been around for a while, tuners,” he said wryly while tuning his guitar after his first song, drawing laughter. “But somehow doing this in front of people makes me nervous.”
He also revealed that he had just moved to the area from Queens, and was pleased by the turnout he’d received. “This is more people than I know in the area,” he said with a smile, “so if you can introduce yourself to me afterward, that’d be great.” A few people did just that when Scanlon finished his set. It was a welcome to town, and to the New Haven music scene, fitting for a night that felt at last like spring.
