Wilser’s Room, Fredericton. October 14.
Matt Carter
LUKA has been visiting Fredericton once or twice a year for the past three years now but their performance at Wilser’s Room on October 14, the first in a full week of Pre-Pop programming at the Capital Complex, was the first to truly capture the dynamic/romantic courtship of singer songwriter Luke Kuplowsky’s lyrics and his poetic Nick Drake – meets – Lou Reed delivery. Once again backed by drummer Bianca Palmer and guitarist Kurt Inder, the same lineup who performed at Shivering Songs 2017, the addition of bassist Jennah Barry (who also contributed beautiful backing vocals) rounded out the group’s sound. The band was tight, the set was relaxed and Luke’s voice was on point.
Their set was largely a mix of songs from 2016’s Summon Up A Monkey King and the upcoming album, What Kind Of Animal, due out November 28. LUKA continue to outdo themselves with each visit. I’m already excited for their next time I can see this lineup.
Julie Doiron closed the night off playing songs new and old, taking requests and removing any barriers that might have existed between performer and audience by addressing the room like a group of close personal friends. She shared the stories behind many of her songs and brought the room up to speed with her recent family experiences. Both her voice and her sense of humour were in fine form.
Having been on tour with Julie and the Wrong Guys for much of October, Doiron took several songs to settle into her performance but still managed to leave the evening’s small but attentive audience completely satisfied.
