Marco Benevento in Ottawa - Live Review

Marco Benevento
Photo by: Mike Bouchard

Review by: Todd Snelgrove
Photos by: Mike Bouchard 

Last night Marco Benevento and his trio presented an evening of riveting blissed-out sonic onslaughts to a positively raging Ottawa crowd. A hundred best friends wallowed in one anthemic exploration after another during a night that felt more like a reunion than anything else. 

I jumped out of a cab to find dozens of great people milling about outside the Elmdale Tavern around 10:30. Previous commitments prevented me from catching Dave Lauzon open the show with an Envelope 3 set, but all reports were glowing. Set break had just begun and as the place emptied I was greeted with a myriad of familiar faces from a thousand shows gone by. Hugs and high-fives kept me busy for the next twenty minutes; it seems this show had pulled out most of the old Ottawa crowd all on the same night, a seemingly rare feat as of late. And every hippy handshake reminded me that we used to do this a lot more often. Even the out-of-towners were out in a show of strength, with several of southern Ontario's usual suspects and even a new pair of regulars who made the drive up from a snowy Vermont for the show.

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Marco Benevento Interview

Marco Benevento with Trey Anastasio Band - Toronto - July 18, 2006
Photo by: Mike Bouchard

Marco Benevento (Benevento/Russo Duo, Trey Anastasio Band, Garage A Trois, Suprise Me Mr. Davis) brings his organ skills to Ottawa this friday night at the Elmdale House along with Ween's Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) on bass and Andrew Borger (Tom Waits, Norah Jones) on drums.  Opening is Ottawa's Envelope 3 featuring Dave Lauzon (nero).  Marco is not bringing his famous organ setup but rather showing up with a vintage 1927 upright piano which certainly must be a fun thing to cross the US/Canada border with.  

Here's an interview with Marco Benevento published by the Ottawa Citizen.

During his mini-tour later this week of central Canada, pianist Marco Benevento will have no worries about playing venues that don't have pianos.

The 33-year-old Brooklyn musician, whose jazz-rock experiments can sound like a merger of Arcade Fire and Brad Mehldau, will have a special piano stashed in the back of his van.

For his trio gig Friday night at the Elmdale Tavern, Benevento will probably have to rely on his 61-key Wurlitzer upright, a vintage instrument with its two outer octaves lopped off, made in 1927 for bars in trains.

For ticket info, contact The Elmdale House Tavern.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/jazzer+rocks/3669149/story.html#ixzz12NCCTgho