Sunday night the Taft Theatre was home to two acts that drew from southern roots and were able to create something exciting and beautiful. Athens, OH’s Caamp and Nashville’s Savannah Conley brought in a large crowd for a Sunday night down below in the Taft. Two very different shows that blended together wonderfully.
Savanah Conley, a singer/ songwriter, who was actually born and raised in Nashville and to two musician parents, it was clear Conley was meant to play and write music. Her solo acoustic performance was mesmerizing and melodic, with pain soaked and empowering songs.
One take away from Conley’s performance was her ability to write. She was able to draw from simple moments in life and create these songs that drew you in either through their humor or through their pain.
Most of her set consisted of unrecorded songs, including a song presumably titled Claw Machine, which she co-wrote. The song was a testament to her sense of humor and a tune that also seemed to point fun at over-baring masculinity.
The crowd had two different personalities during each set, while during Conley’s they were attentive and quiet through each song in almost a trance state. The boys in Caamp had the crowd dancing and singing with multiple, Yee’s! and shouting throughout.
Caamp, came out with an up-beat tempo walking out to Sturgill Simpson’s Welcome to Earth (Pollywog), which was surprisingly a great song to walk out to. It energized the crowd, and allowed for Caamp to kick it off with a few tracks off their recent album Boys.
At some points Caamp felt like a punk show, a lot of song that lasted two minutes like Common Man,but were able to play a solid hour and a half pack with songs. Along with a solo acoustic set in the middle with just lead singer and guitar player Taylor Meier, who covered Bon Iver’s Skinny Love. At some points sounding like a Rockabilly band Caamp was not just playing folk music.
From just their studio stuff you may assume that Caamp may only have one gear and one sound but to see them live is an experience that for any fan of music is an enjoyable experience. Caamp is a very talented trio that takes from multiple genre’s and artists that are truly translated through their live shows.
