07-07-2003, 02:45 AM
Downie and his band, The Country of Miracles, entertained with a mix of tunes from his latest CD, Battle of the Nudes, and his 16-song previous sans-Hip effort, the confusing, book-of-poems-accompanied Coke Machine Glow.
It was a dramatically different scene than the last time Downie strode out on the Bluesfest Main Stage, a year ago, when The Hip whipped 25,000 fans packed shoulder-to-shoulder into a frenzy.
Yesterday, it was a relaxed but still reassuringly bizarre Downie, clad in a wonky white cowboy hat, who sat perched on a stool to play guitar and belt out his strange sort of music.
Downie strained those unique vocal cords more than once during his 45-minute set. During the opener, 11th Fret -- which he called "not the most bummed-out tune, but it's pretty close" -- and on several other tunes, he was pleasingly backed by the light, sweet tones of singer Julie Doiran. And even if it didn't quite work, the pair impressed with a verging-on-rap effort dubbed Who By Rote.
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It was a dramatically different scene than the last time Downie strode out on the Bluesfest Main Stage, a year ago, when The Hip whipped 25,000 fans packed shoulder-to-shoulder into a frenzy.
Yesterday, it was a relaxed but still reassuringly bizarre Downie, clad in a wonky white cowboy hat, who sat perched on a stool to play guitar and belt out his strange sort of music.
Downie strained those unique vocal cords more than once during his 45-minute set. During the opener, 11th Fret -- which he called "not the most bummed-out tune, but it's pretty close" -- and on several other tunes, he was pleasingly backed by the light, sweet tones of singer Julie Doiran. And even if it didn't quite work, the pair impressed with a verging-on-rap effort dubbed Who By Rote.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jam.canoe.ca/JamConcertsA2D/downie_evora_070603-sun.html">http://jam.canoe.ca/JamConcertsA2D/down ... 3-sun.html</a><!-- m -->