The east side is so crowded with indie bands that I sometimes forget there are actually other kinds of live music. El Cid, turns out, hosts a very active and populated open mic night the second and last Tuesday of every month. Used to be I could always rely on Tangier (R.I.P.) as the east side’s go-to for quieter acts, but more often than not, those bands were decidedly “indie.” The folks performing at El Cid last night were unabashedly singer-songwriters. And leading the pack was Derek Carter, who owned the opening slot — and a longer set — as one of the night’s Featured Artists.
Carter opened the show on his own by humbly addressing the crowd seated under the dim red lights. The first song (maybe intentionally) felt like a warm up. With a little shyness at the mic, and slightly shaky vocals, he conjured up a distant cousin of the singer-songwriter Deity, Elliot Smith. After some warm applause, he was joined by his folky partner in crime whose name I unfortunately didn’t catch. Visually, she was all spark and a quirky compliment to his tall, gruff-ish presence (how gruff are singer-songwriters, really?).
For the rest of the set, they delivered Southern-tinged folk tunes, laced with wit and really nice harmonies. In the end, that was what won me over. Her rich voice could’ve easily stolen the show from Carter’s softer, soulful sound, but they worked it out evenly (yay, team work!). They traded verses, coming together when the timing was right to put a point on a feeling. The highlight of the set was the song Carter introduced with a story about an old married couple he witnessed in a restaurant, silently hating each other. Their voices alternated points of view, and the harmonies punctuated the dark humor and poignance in the lyrics. The song set the bar for the night.
B. Soika
www.loudvine.com
Tags: Carter, Derek, Derek Carter, El Cid, Eventful Los Angeles, Indie, LA Music, LA Weekly, Live, Live Music, Live Music Community, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Music, Loud, Loudvine, MP3's, Music Network, review, Shows, Silverlake, Weekly Calendar, Weekly Los Angeles, Weekly Music, Weekly Picks
