The High Sing

It was a surprisingly full crowd at The Horseshoe Tavern on Monday. Opener Mega Bog played a solo set with her guitar and the occasional chimes. Over shimmery guitar, she sang about odd and unusual topics. To my ears, there were often too many changes in her song. They sounded incomplete, fragmentary ideas that aren't given a chance to coalesce.

Cate le Bon charmed the audience with her Welsh lilt, in the rare occasion when she spoke to the crowd. That bird-like cadence also manifested in her usual light singing. But with a full band, her music was quite visceral and muscular. She sometimes let loose with her voice, which was surprisingly full-throated and big. She covered most of the material on her new release Crab Day, but also included several "hits" from past albums. The diverse crowd from the heavily tattoed to the silver-haired set seemed enamoured with le Bon, especially the few times she led the band in extended guitar solos.