Scott's rich vocal range was highlighted by the low tones of "Gettin' in the Way" and an operatic soprano on "He Loves Me." She growled through "Bedda at Home," and whispered like a siren with a shy streak during "Cross My Mind," the song that won Scott her first Grammy last month.
The night ended with "The Way," and as Scott bellowed about the joys of breakfast and love, her charismatic character and enormous, gorgeous voice were equally enthralling.
Lisa Loeb in January. She performed Wednesday at the Barns of Wolf Trap.
(Tammie Arroyo -- AP)
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-- Sarah Godfrey
Electric Eel Shock
Basically, there are two kinds of Japanese rock bands -- the ones that transform the music into something American audiences have never heard before and the ones whose music is familiar but whose attitude is astonishing. Electric Eel Shock, the Tokyo trio that performed Wednesday night at the Velvet Lounge, rambunctiously represented the latter camp.
The show began with singer-guitarist Aki Morimoto and bassist Kazuto Maekawa onstage, posturing their way through a semi-ironic tribute to Black Sabbath. This set up the evening's biggest surprise, the arrival of drummer Tomoharu Ito, wearing only sneakers, gloves and a carefully positioned sock. The trio then slammed into "Suicide Rock 'n' Roll," a life-affirming ode to the Shock's style of primal punk-metal.
Technically, there was not much to that or the band's other tunes. Such numbers as "Japanese Meets Chinese in USA" and the irresistible "Rock 'n' Roll Can Rescue the World" consist of a few chords, a handful of phrases in English and/or Japanese and a thumping beat that owes as much to James Brown as the Sex Pistols. Like a show by the early Ramones, the Shock's performance seemed as much theater as music, and somehow fused self-parody and utter conviction.
The band's manic enthusiasm didn't quite annihilate the barrier between the performers and the listeners, but Morimoto was generous enough to pretend that it had. Paying the crowd the highest compliment, he announced during the final song that "you guys are also Electric Eel Shock."
The Shock was preceded by the Thieves, a trio from the ultimate college town -- Oxford, England -- that energetically channeled the sound of another college town -- Ann Arbor, Mich. -- back in the days when it was home to the Stooges and the MC5.
-- Mark Jenkins
