DB Rielly & Michele Riganese at LIC Bar, June 23, 2010 – Any time I heard DB Rielly, that's my highlight for the week. "We're all goin' straight to hell," indeed. And Hiro Suzuki, his geetar player, blazes dirty smoke around every tune. It was a perfect night for rollicking alt country under the weeping willows at LIC Bar, the wet soft soaking air laden with the grill's burnt-cow tang.
My definition of "designed to fail": being a singer-songwriter following DB Rielly's band outdoors late on a school night when everyone's into their third (fifth...we are going straight to hell) drink. You wanna talk about relationships NOW? Michele Riganese proved my doubts hollow. Everyone notices her voice: full, strong, and textured. But it's her songwriting that held us there, as her stories are just quirky enough, her chord changes fresh and angular; her solid strumming holds everything together without intruding on her story-telling.
Yes, it was hot and late, and she'd wrung everything out of herself, but the only disappointment of Riganese's set was that she didn't play an encore. Usually those are formulaic - for once it would have been well-deserved.
More:
The Silver Shark is always moving, just under the surface of the LIC scene. He comes up suddenly to snap up some wine and music, and perhaps bare his teeth at nearby lovely mermaids – though he generally doesn't bite. You can catch an occasional glimpse of him at your favorite LIC venue, and regularly here at his blog.
