This was another busy weekend of live music for me! I started off Friday night at Opening Bell, and ended up at City Tavern on Saturday night (more on that sooon). The bill at Opening Bell was Taylor Davis and Johnny Goudie. I have seen Taylor play before, and he always puts on a great show; Johnny is someone that I have wanted to see for a long time now but haven’t had the chance. Before I get into the review I first have to give Taylor some kudos! Taylor: Hey, is it ok if I tell everyone that one of your songs is going to be on syndicated morning radio tomorrow? 
The word on the street is that Kid Kradick is going to play his song “Is it Ok” tomorrow morning! **updae 2-19-07: Taylor has the song up for free download on his myspace today, see the link at the bottom of this post** Congrats!!! By the way, now the hook to your song is stuck in my head! Sigh.
The show was a lot of fun. Johnny opened with a five man band, including a massive keyboard set up, that totally filled the small stage at Opening Bell. The stage was packed and the music was rich and very entertaining. Johnny comes across as a very seasoned musician and performer. The vocal and musical quality was very good, and his stage demeanor was very relaxed and interactive. I’m not sure how long he has been performing, but my bet would be that he’s played this game for some time now. I’d say the music was pretty energetic and had it roots in good old Rock n Roll. His set was a little bit short, but I really enjoyed the show and would go see him again for sure.
Next up was Taylor. I have another recent review of Taylor at Opening Bell here. This performance was also fun to listen to. At one point Taylor’s keyboard player/guitarist Adam Tyler left the keyboard open to play his guitar. After the song started Johnny sat down at the keyboard and started playing. This was clearly not rehearsed or planned. He saw the opening and just dove in and really added a lot to the song. It was funny because you could see him looking at Taylor’s hands on his guitar to figure out what key to play in. There was another collaboration near the end of Taylor’s set when he had Bryan and Johnny come up to play Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones. The whole audience was singing along, and I think it’s save to assume that people really enjoyed the music.
So…how did I get to the end of this post and just now remember that Bryan Dunn also did a short opening set before Johnny? More importantly, why am I being so lazy as to not put this info at the beginning of this blog post? These are serious questions…and I can offer you no answers. BUT, Bryan did play a short opening set, and his Folk music was well rehearsed and fun to listen to. Mrs. Hide (my 5th grade teacher) would be PISSED if she knew I started that last sentence with a conjunction. After all, that’s not the function of a conjunction. BUT, Mrs. Hide, what are you going to do about it? HA, I did it twice! Once again I digress. The highlight of Bryan’s set was his song Audio Stereo Radio when he had the audience and Taylor help out with the chorus. Good stuff!
I enjoyed Taylor’s music at the last Opening Bell performance. However, I also just wanted to go pinch his cheeks. I imagine that is not the type of reaction he is looking for.
I love the coloring in that picture of Johnnie Goudie and Taylor davis!!!
zach!!!!! i’ve heard from so many people that this was an amazing show and I MISSED IT!! thanks for capturing these photos, sorry i missed you too. xo, pascale