[photos courtesy of P Squared Photography]
It’s never an easy task to be a singer-songwriter opening for an eight-piece band in a 1500-capacity venue, but Jennifer Castle pulled off that feat, opening for Destroyer, in a way that let her material shine. I was surprised to discover that we hadn’t checked in with her since a Union Pool show in 2012, which came before the release of her widely-acclaimed 2014 album, Pink City. So, this was our first time getting to engage with much of that material, and I’m glad we had the chance. Accompanied by guitars and keys, but no percussion, Castle spared little time between songs, packing in as much as she could into the thirty-minute slot. What came across, in the big space of Webster Hall, was how strong her voice is, as able to fill this space as the coffee shops and smaller clubs where this music is typically more comfortable. She began with a newer song, “I Don’t Care About Money,” followed by “Powers” from her 2012 album Castlemusic, possibly the strongest track on that offering. From there, the Pink City material began in rapid-fire fashion, beginning with “Working For the Man.” The diaphanous-but-tensile quality of Castle’s voice is especially evident on this song, and the impressive vocal turns continued for many of the new songs. Not that Castle’s a stranger to challenging work — she’s played with everyone from fellow Canadian folkie Doug Paisley to the somewhat more aggro Toronto crews Fucked Up and The Constantines. Even if this setting might not have been the perfect way to be introduced to Jennifer Castle in terms of size, I suspect she earned a lot of new fans here. She continues with Destroyer on the West Coast before heading to Europe with them in November. Make sure to show up early to catch her set.
As with the Destroyer set, I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Webster Hall engineer Raphael, with a bit of Schoeps MK41V microphones to add ambiance. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!
Download the complete set: [MP3] | [FLAC]
Stream the complete set:
Jennifer Castle
2015-10-04
Webster Hall
New York, NY USA
Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack
Thanks to Jennifer Castle for permission
Soundboard (engineers: Raphael) + Schoeps MK41V (at SBD, DFC)>KCY>Z-PFA>>Edirol R-44>2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (fades, align, mix down)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects, compression)>Audacity 2.0.5 (track, amplify, balance, downsample, dither)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks [Total Time 29:34]
01 I Don’t Care About Money
02 Powers
03 Working For the Man
04 Truth Is the Freshest Fruit
05 How Or Why
06 Sailor’s Blessing
07 Sailing Away
08 Pink City
Band
Jennifer Castle – Vocals, guitar
Mike Smith – Bass
Ryan Driver – Keyboards
If you enjoyed this recording, PLEASE SUPPORT Jennifer Castle, like her on facebook, and buy Pink City from No Quarter Records.
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