Live Music Review // Ben Mueller / Allie Burnet / Calendula / Sean Lemkey at New Park Brewing, West Hartford CT, July 21st 2024
Photos can be found in an album on Facebook here :::
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1527592917970924&type=3
If you think going to two different shows on Saturday was a bit much, then you're going to really be surprised when I say that Quentin and I went up to West Hartford for this show on Sunday afternoon (which was actually from 12-2pm). When I saw this flyer I knew that Ben Mueller and Allie Burnet both had bands that I'd like to see as well, but to get them into the same place on a Sunday afternoon felt like reason enough to be out here for this.
The first thing that I did when I found out about this show though was contact New Park Brewing to see if Quentin would be allowed at this show. They said that as long as he's accompanied by me it's cool and let me tell you dear reader the amount of children that were at this show- so many younger than Quentin- was amazing. When I post the videos from this show, you'll see one person who took children to the bathroom so many times that I have no idea who the person is but they certainly deserve some sort of an award.
Typically when I go to shows it's south to New Haven or Hamden and then out to Willimantic and now Stafford Springs as well. This is one of the few places I've found now in the northern part of the state and the area where this show was held was big, had tables with lots of chairs and a variety of beer plus food. I got a Cloudscape beer (which was really good) and Quentin got a basket of chicken fingers and fries, which I assume was good because he ate it all. There is ample parking and a Cumberland Farms right next to it, so this is a definite place I want to visit again.
I also realized at some point that this is called the "Expressions Songwriters Series" and it's hosted by Sean Lemkey, which means that not only have these been done before but they will be done again. So I really hope that the next one is on a day when I'm able to go because even if I don't know anyone on the bill by name I'll go just for the sake of being at New Park Brewing and for the experience of hearing new music.
This show did open with Sean Lemkey playing some songs and that was nice. It was a good introduction to the series, the other artists and what we could expect coming forward. Sean Lemkey has a nice voice and so to have that with the acoustic guitar just worked as he played songs of various topics. If you tell me there's a show at Cafe Nine and someone I want to see is headlining- like an Abigail Lapell- and Sean Lemkey is opening I'd be even more excited for the show.
Calendula was up next and this is the musical project of one half of Little Lost Records, which connects it to the night before. It's worth noting that everyone who played this show did so with acoustic guitars except for this Calendula set, which went between acoustic and electric. The acoustic guitar, for what it's wroth, was also fretless and that is just something which I'm not even sure how you'd begin to play it. This music was mellow, but not soft. It had all those melodies and beauty, but also wasn't afraid to be coarse and distinct.
During the Calendula set it really sunk in with me what a special event this was. To see these first two artists perform and then know which two artists were to come felt like a definite must-be-at show and there were a lot of people here so I think that it was something I didn't really fully realize until I was there but I'm glad they got the memo beforehand.
Allie Burnet was up third and the songs she played had more of a country undertone to them, in that Johnny Cash kind of way. Some of them told stories, some of them had whistling, and overall they were just made for you to feel. Music isn't something that you should go "Oh yes, this song states facts and I acknowledge that they are truth". Music is something you should feel and I felt this.
The last song Allie Burnet played was about Heaven, questions about what it was like there, and I've often thought about that (though not recently) because I was often given this idea of what Heaven would be like when I was growing up and going to church and it felt like something maybe I didn't want to be a part of because it might be boring. But I don't know. Maybe Heaven is different for each person, based on what their idea of it is.
Ben Mueller closed out this show as "School of Rock" started in another room. I've been listening to the Low Ceilings album "Dig That Hole Again" quite a bit since it came out last December, so to hear songs from it felt like the perfect way to end this afternoon. Sometimes I feel like I repeat myself in these reviews but just add in a name and this is that time. I've been on that kick lately related to the voice of musicians and from Abigail Lapell and Lady Queen Paradise to Camp Saint Helene and Nighttime, now as I experience it live, I can add Low Ceilings to that list.
This was just one of those shows that, overall, I was glad to be in the audience for and it was just such a special line up. I think the way things are connected, it won't happen next weekend but to see Low Ceilings (full band) and Allie Burnet and the Proven Winners perform together one day feels inevitable now. This was just such an overall experience that I just am glad that I was there for it.
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