Modabo is definitely a group on the rise.
When the Fredericton-based trio made its first appearance in Kitchener-Waterloo in 1996, 40 people showed up at a house concert sponsored by the Old Chestnuts Song Circle.
Last year, 80 people attended two house concerts over consecutive days.
This Saturday, more that 200 people had their socks blown off at a concert at Zion United Church.
The church’s Round Room has been temporary home to some fine concerts over the past couple of years including appearances by Garnet Rogers (who produced Modabo’s self-titled album) and Cate Friesen and Catherine Wheatley, as well as two appearances by Trilogy (Eileen McGann, Cathy Miller and David K.).
However, it’s a safe bet that the room never resonated with such richly textured harmonies and such intricately woven instrumental arrangements as it did Saturday night, thanks to Darrell Grant, Mike Doyle and Jon Weaver –known collectively as Modabo (the name originated from a CODCO skit, should anyone be curious).
Despite its two superb albums - the most recent of which, The Many and The One, was released late last year - the trio is building its reputation through the time-honoured method of knock-‘em-dead live performance.
Saturday’s concert was built on 21 songs delivered through two high-octane 70-minute sets. Encouraged by two standing ovations, the trio rewarded rabid fans with a double encore that lasted 20 minutes.
Most of the material consisted of songs penned by Grant from the trio’s two albums.
Simply stated, Grant is emerging as one of Canada’s most impressive songwriters. Although literate in an effortlessly sophisticated way, his lyrics are broadly accessible. His melodies are infectiously catchy and memorable.
It’s a tribute to both Miramichi artists to compare Grant to novelist David Adams Richards in the way both express universal truths through the particular experiences of ordinary people.
Grant has developed a highly personal guitar technique which combines percussive elements, alternative tunings and intricate fingerpicking, more expansive and more expressive Saturday night than it was a year ago.
Although Grant and Weaver both have good supportive voices, Doyle is the trio’s lead vocalist by virtue of the range, intensity and raw expressive power of his voice. Sweet and tender one minute, soulful the next and down and dirty a minute later, Doyle has the kind of voice that can be honed and polished, but it’s a natural gift to begin with.
Weaver acts as the trio’s David Crosby in the sense that he’s the glue that holds everything together, both in his vocals and in his instrumental work which includes guitar, Jethro Tull-inspired flute and percussion. (He also plays keyboards, which has yet to make its way into the trio in a major way.)
Modabo’s original material is first-rate, so the trio doesn’t have to rely on cover tunes. However, it still includes handful of carefully selected favourites that please fans, while allowing the guys to let their hair down and strut their stuff. They also give the original artists a run for their money in devising spine-tingling versions of pop classics. Look out Crosby, Stills and Nash, Marvin Gaye and the Bee Gees.
The trio’s rendition of Stan Rogers’ Northwest Passage is a different matter. First recorded by the trio on Remembering Stan Rogers: An East Coast Passage, the popular round has never sounded better.
With Doyle at the helm and with the kind of audience in attendance Saturday night, many of whom are used to raising their voices in song through the Old Chestnuts Song Circle, the experience was enough to bring tears to the eyes.
Jack Cole, the guiding light behind the song circle, who got the evening rolling with a couple of songs, suggested that Modabo will soon be too big for Kitchener-Waterloo.
We’ll just have to find a bigger hall the next time Grant, Doyle and Weaver sail through on their way to deeper waters.
[Photo caption: The high-octane performance of Modabo - (from left to right) Darrell Grant, Mike Doyle and Jon Weaver - on Saturday night at Zion United Church was a pleasure to hear. Photo: Richard O’Brien, Record Staff ]