Winnipeg Folk Festival - C.R. Avery

[guppiecat]

I got to see C.R. Avery again this year (photo set here). You could tell that he was up next as the crowd youthed by about two decades during the half hour lag time. (It also tripled in size, he's quite popular.)

For those that do not know him, he's a mix of spoken word and beatbox. However, I must say that he is far far better in a group than he is on his own. (Granted, this may have something to do with my intense dislike for the harmonica, regardless of whether it's being played straight or being beatboxed through.) His show was OK. Some bits were good, some were just OK. When you get right down it though, I think he's a much better musician and performer than he is a writer. Performance-wise, he is very dynamic. Photographing his hands were a lot like photographing squirrels. Musically, I loved the stuff he did with Tofu, and his collaboration with Ridley Bent a few years back was absolutely wonderful. However, as a solitary, he was a bit lacking.

Maybe it helps to be between 15 and 25. I'm sure I would have liked him a lot more when I was a bit more idealistic and a lot less aware of the complexity and ramifications of social interactions.








View large to see the nifty reflection.