Upping the age range at Lawnya Vawnya, punk legend Wreckless Eric (Goulden) & Amy Rigby played a strange kind of set, making pointed if predictable jokes about Canada. Alternating between a bass and guitar and two-guitar configuration, there was no second guessing the couple's commitment to their performance. Goulden dug in for bass solos, stomping about and elicited whoops for loud, Chuck Berry-style guitar acrobatics. Rigby gave her all, singing passionately and bantering with the crowd about her gratitude to the festival. But, in peppering their set with covers of "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," Tom Petty's "You've Got a Heart So Big," and Roger McGuinn's "The Ballad of Easy Rider" and referencing icebergs and Tim Horton's all felt a bit stale. The set had its charms certainly (cantankerous banter about crazed mayors and Blundstones was priceless) but the two-guitar attack was often overwhelmingly thick; the songs would have more power with a rhythm section and more dynamic tones. Eventually, Rigby switched over to keys while Eric tinkered with his bass for comic effect and they played three songs in a row from their latest LP, A Working Museum, and the pop crunch, conceptual lyrics about the 1960s, and wailing feedback was a curious, Ray Davies-ish onslaught. Again, there was something here but, overall, it lacked a certain freshness and excitement.
To see Exclaim!'s Lawnya Vawnya photo gallery, head here.
To see Exclaim!'s Lawnya Vawnya photo gallery, head here.