By Hunter Spitzer
Easily one of the more polished acts to visit Cat’sCradle, Whitney’s soothing set kept the mood relaxed and content on September 21.
The stage was beautifully arranged –drums in center stage with a keyboard at stage left and the lead guitarist, Kakacek, at stage right. I was surprised to see the drum set in center stage, and I felt a little bad for the person standing in right in front of it.
Their attire was simple, t-shirts and jeans mostly in solid colors. The show was delayed an hour and Whitney didn’t come on until a quarter to 10. Cat’s Cradle sent an email announcing the delay around noon.
The opening two songs set the vibe for the rest of the evening. You could just close your eyes and let your mind float in the sound. If you take a listen to their two albums this theme persists through both, the bands shtick becomes evident pretty quickly.
The lead singer and drummer, Julian Ehrlich, sounds like he sings in a constant falsetto on the albums, which he very well may, but his voice rings out with far more soul in the live set. The lead guitarist rarely stepped into the spotlight, taking only two solos. That being said if they played an exclusively instrumental set, his licks could carry the show. There was an excellent brass player that soloed once or twice as well which was a nice touch.
The set blended the hours together. The songs never varied far from the mean of their sound. However, the up-beat rhythms and melancholy lyrics, a unifying motif of their genre, satisfied all of my expectations.
Julian and the rest of the band had a friendly stage presence. He complimented the town, and even told us they were going to take an extra day here to rest because of all the friendly faces. This was a band you could bring home to your mother.
Julian went on to tell us about their favorite Carrboro bar, Orange County Social Club. This subtle hint would have been lost on me if my friend had not been wise enough to suggest we check it out after the show. After a brief intermission, one Julian suggested that instead of the whole encore bit, they played two more songs, closing on their hit, “No Woman”. Kakacek took one of his solos here, improvising adroitly on the melody of this fantastic song. Frankly, I’m not sure I’ll be able to enjoy the original version as I did before.
We were lucky enough to meet Julian and the rest of the band at OCSC about an hour after the show. He and the other band members signed a loaf of bread we picked up through an irrelevant act of serendipity. My only regret was not thinking to break the bread instead.