New Music?

The Horseshoe Tavern is having cover-free Tuesday nights called Nu Music Nites. Last night, first up on stage is Revelstoke. Similar to Grimes or Alphabot, this one-man show tries to do everything using by recording snippets from his guitar, banjo, harmonica, or voice and looping them to build increasingly layered music. While the former have their feet mostly in electronica, Revelstoke is more of a confessional, "acoustic" songwriter. The first song or two were interesting, but eventually, because of the sampled loops, they all sound like those wistfully melancholic music that cycle forever in the current trend of simple, "arty" video games.

Allie Hughes came on as the main headliner. In addition to her band, she has 2 backup singers. All three singers had on skin-tight clothes that drove up the room's temperature. Having singers meant Allie can indulge in some pseudo group dancing, although more Kate Bush as a Supremes rather than Britney Spears. With a short set, she played her pop-friendliest songs. Receiving big cheers, she decided to do an encore. Thankfully that weird vibe finally showed up. Instead of her usual cover of "Toxic", she did a new song where she simply belted out nonsensical sounds and long runs over a R&B-sounding music. If it's an ironic wink at the over-the-top melismatic tendencies of female pop divas, then it's rather funny.

The 2 pretty back-up singers were actually the leads for the follow-up band, Rouge, a 80s-inspired dance-pop band. Accompanied by a pixie-cut blonde drummer, they would have fit right in 3 decades ago. Their updated synth sounds got the crowd bopping along. Apparently there's a video coming out in a couple of weeks.

The final act was Nash. I couldn't stick around for his act. But from what's available online, he would have made a better opening than Revelstoke.