Jana Hunter’s show was one that almost didn’t happen. Diverse Works could no longer host the show after Hurricane Ike but a mad dash search for alternate venues by scrappy individuals eventually turned up The Petrol Station just north of 610 on Wakefield. Mind you, I didn’t exactly get the most welcome reception from the Petrol’s neighbors. Some crabby old dude yelling at you for parking in front of his house is a bit unsettling given the events this week. Exasperated, I finally just told the dude to do me a favor and chill – it’s been a rough week for everybody. This led to him shouting something about us “punks” like this was some 50’s rock and roll B-movie starring Bill Haley and Chuck Berry with the outraged neighbor shouting “You punks and your rock and roll music! Parking in front of my house! What is this country coming to?!” except that instead of Brando or Dean you got me and Chris Gray. Whatevs.

Inside though was a much better scene…hell, it was a good showing of the Indie scene. Sharks & Sailors, Bring Back The Guns, Young Mammals, Wols, Wicked Poseur, Wild Moccasins, and Bright Men of Learning, to name a few bands all had members representing and the usual scene peeps all came out to welcome back Jana, see how everyone else was doing, and just enjoy the evening. The Petrol Station itself was a very nice little bar with a nice bartender, a decent selection of beers, and one of the regular patrons, Mike, was showing off his MRE to everybody. Of the scene peeps, a few people fared worse than others but generally the news was the same from everybody – no power, no power, and no power – and you can tell that everyone is more than ready for normalcy.

Perhaps that’s why this show was so necessary – we all needed a break. Lesser Gonzales even started his set saying “So I hear you guys are a bit bored.” His set was a sweet solo set of quiet introspective folk with some lovely chord changes and a soft spoken phrasing that accompanied the night air perfectly. Jana followed with a full band and apologized to the audience for Wicked Poseur being bumped from the line-up due to time constraints and for the band’s volume; “We’re usually much louder than this.” She then led the band through an abbreviated set of her songs with the casual intimacy of performing for friends in their living room which was not too far from the truth. The band played beautifully and at one point the band was improvising into a cascade of loops and what sounded like a train whistle perfectly in key off in the distance but that seemed improbable. Yet, when the band stopped and Jana segued into a song, that train whistle - clear as day - joined along perfectly. One person amused by it all shouted “Whooo!”, Jana smiled, and the band joined in. That was the moment that captured the evening where even the trains were singing and glad to hear Jana back in town; somehow that told us all that it was going to be all right. Thanks Jana of not giving up on the show. We all needed that more than you’ll ever know.

(Here are a few pictures. Flash felt intrusive so I refrained from my usual hundred plus shots that I then whittle down to few good ones. Still hey it’s something. )

More pics on my flickr (link)