Carol Bui - Kristeen Young - Lucia Lucia -- Black Cat - Dec 8 2010

Lucia Lucia - A female vocalist/guitarist named Mary is supported by three guys initialed J.M. somehow who do the guitar/bass/drums bit. The music is light rock sometimes with some bite, other times more of a fey singer/songwriter variety. It is decent although it is quite rough around the edges. Only a couple of songs grabbed me, but it was all listenable. The crowd talked the singer into doing a "library song" which covers her day job activities. It was amusing and was well received to the point I thought it was the best cut of the night. Listening to their free CD as I write this, I am finding some nice songs. We'll see what the future holds here.

Kristeen Young - A one-woman act where she sang all songs and rotated between playing keyboards or singing in front of her programmed backing. Kind of like an Arri Up/Dresden Dolls sort of attitude and sound (sound more like the latter). Decent drum programming which usually is a turn off for me. Maybe there is some Diamanda Galas in here, too, although I haven't heard her in decades, so that's just a cliched guess. Good energy and the crowd was receptive enough. I enjoyed it, even if Ms. Young thought she was being screwed on the volume levels.

Carol Bui - The last time I saw Ms. Bui, she was a DC area resident opening for Joan as Policewoman. She was great, but was moving to the state of Washington. Fortunately, she has graced us with another show and still has the great songs and style. She had Mary from Lucia Lucia helping on vocals and one of the J.M.'s on drums. She added a cellist and bass player keeping the guitar duties to herself. The sound was solid rock with some nice garage pop sensibilities, but with a sense of toughness. There was a percussion and bass song that had me picturing Sheila Chandra singing a song from PiL's Metal Box album. Both vocals and music were strong throughout and she had enough fans to make this a good little show. I hope she keeps DC a part of her travels in the future.

Quote of the Night: "I know you have the power. Why are you keeping it from me?" Would have been more profound if had not been a simple comment from Ms. Young directed to the sound man.