By Brendan Fitzgerald and John Ruscher
music
 Shannon Worrell played a spectacular and rare gig at Gravity Lounge to celebrate the venue’s fourth anniversary |
The 100-plus observers gathered at Gravity Lounge’s fourth anniversary concert were just that—“observers.” All senses were tuned to the varying folk frequencies of the evening’s performances—from Paul Curreri, Gravity’s first “official” performer (though, bless his ’stache, he admitted that there was an unofficial gig the night before his) to Shannon Worrell, who remarked that she’d only played twice in the last 10 years.
| Listen to Paul Curreri’s The Wasp:
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Sure, wine was poured and beers were popped—perhaps too liberally by the two nattering, chattering blondes in the back of the space—and, sure, conversations ran throughout the show, but the secret to Gravity Lounge has always been the social exchange between musician and observer, fostered by the intimate size and matchstick glow of the space.
Caught up in the throes of the celebration, the two of us, C-VILLE’s resident audio authorities (that’s a joke, folks) decided to celebrate the spirit of Gravity Lounge by watching, listening to and yacking about each performance to the best of our abilities.
Set 1: Gary Green and Peyton Tochterman
Green blows, Tochterman glows and Ruscher shows
BF: John, you missed Peyton Tochterman.
JR: Was it good?
BF: Gary Green, the harmonica player, once beat John Popper [of Blues Traveler] in a harmonica competition. Peyton sounded like the singer from Dinosaur Jr.
JR: That sounds pretty interesting.
Set 2: Shannon Worrell
Return of the moviegoer
BF: Shannon Worrell! She just finished her set, with guests for about half the songs. John, one word on Shannon Worrell.
JR: One word on Shannon Worrell?
BF [pauses, counting on fingers]: That was five.
JR: “Sweet.”
BF: Six counting “sweet.”
JR: Reminded me of Elliott Smith. And have you heard Mary Lou Lord? She was friends with Elliott Smith. Her voice sounds remarkably like her. I could see her songs as fade out, montage songs in “Grey’s Anatomy.” Or “The O.C.”
[At this point, the recorder is lost, but still picks up comments]:
Female voice: Very personal, but very open.
Male voice: The crush I had when I was 15 has come surging back.
Set 3: Paul Curreri and Devon Sproule
Every day should be a holiday
BF [ecstatic]: They usually only play together on Valentine’s Day!
JR: It felt like it was a holiday—a Christmas holiday. It was warm.
BF: One of those “cold outside, warm indoors” feelings?
JR: Except it was raining outside.
BF: Favorite moments from the Paul and Devon set?
JR: A possible symbolic moment: When Devon played her first solo song, this little girl in this giant white t-shirt walked up to the front, sat in one of the front chairs and started swinging her legs back and forth. And I think that’s very appropriate for Devon’s music.
BF: When she came out and sang with Shannon, she had her hands in her pockets and was sort of swinging back and forth, which sounds very similar. And then Peyton [Tochterman] came out and did the same damned thing. That’s not young-girlish, or cutesy.
