MACFEST CONCERT REVIEW: Hayden, Holly McNarland
- Bob Gajarsky
New York's Macintosh Festival featured several hundred bands in various locations in New York City and Hoboken, all looking to strut their stuff for music professionals and afficionados of all ages. The second year of this festival showed it wasn't just for exclusive industry people, but also for the die-hard people who wanted to experience new music, first, before it broke out across the country. Twho artists who exemplified the spirit of the festival - and both coincidentally are from north of the border - were Hayden and Holly McNarland.
Hayden appeared at Hoboken's legendary Maxwell's (and later in the week at New York City's Knitting Factory), and the intimate setting only served to magnify his performance. With vocals and a spirit which could evoke comparisons with the late Kurt Cobain, this powerful acoustic guitarist set forth a mind-numbing selection of songs, interspersed with personal comments on life, that captivated his audience. And it wasn't griping - just talking, as if he were among friends whom he hadn't seen for a few weeks.
The lyrics aren't deep, but in a folk fashion, they tell *stories*. According to Hayden, "Bad As They Seem" is about 'a guy who spends his summer days playing guitar on the roof of his parents house, writing about different neighbors as they walk by', while "Stem" tells about an unfortunate incident where 'I stopped in at a variety store to buy a rose for a date; on the way to her house, I ran into some wind and lost all of the petals'.
"In September" is infectious on disc; acoustically, it silences a room with raw power and energy. His voice becomes an added instrument, rising and falling in nearly perfect synchronization with his guitar. His debut album, Everything I Long For (which is more than acoustic) has been available for more than a year in his native Canada, and has recently seen the light of day in the United States.
Holly McNarland is another Canadian native who has seen her first album, Sour Pie, released in her home country before being issued here in the States. The 21 year old Vancouverite at times, sounds like the next in the line of Kate Bush Tori Amos/Sarah McLachlan - at other instances, her vocals have seemingly come from her country bcakground (she began singing those songs with her mom), yet there's other examples when everything indicates she's a true rock 'n' roll independent woman in the spirit of Liz Phair. The song titles do nothing to dispel that last image; "Mr. Five Minutes" and "Cry or Cum" show this woman can stand up on her own, and won't take shit from anyone for any reason.
Live, McNarland showcases her vocals much better than on the record; one might think that they toned *down* her resonant chords to make a more successful showing with mainstream audiences. The vocal hyrbidization of country/McLachlan/Phair works well on Sour Pie - it just sounds much better live. And her band performs tightly, well in verse with the rush in McNarland's songs.
All in all, two exciting new performers who may well require more than a couple listens on disc.
