Miss Quincy @ Media Club -- 05/03/14

Miss Quincy's third album -- and first with backing band The Showdown -- came out a month ago, and they've been touring non-stop through western Canada ever since. But they wrapped up the the tour in Vancouver at the Media Club to celebrate Roadside Recovery, an album produced by The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer's Matt Rogers.

Ben Rogers & The Bloodred Yonder started the night, his band including some familiar locals, brother Matt "The Axe Murderer" Rogers and John "Johnny 99" Sponarski. He began the set with a country twang that set the mood for most of the set, weaving stories in (and out) of his songs.
Part way through the set, he dismissed his band for a song, introducing a murder ballad as he strummed the guitar alone, and aside from his own material he broke out a cover of a Muddy Waters song.
To be honest, a lot of his set was just a little too countrified for me, but there were a couple songs that picked things up I liked; a call & response audience-participation song called "Panhandler", and last song of the night, which I didn't catch the name of but ended with the entire band going all out -- especially both Ben and Sponarski, tearing up their guitars.

Soon after that, Miss Quincy was joined by her trusty sidewomen in The Showdown as the four-piece started with an almost hymnal song called "Take It To The Well". A slow-dancing song came early on, as they gradually built up the intensity through the set with their rockin' bluesy sound.
Miss Quincy's raw, powerful vocals were definitely the star, but the backup vocals of keyboardist Christie Rose blended perfectly. Part way through the set Rose even took over vocals for a cover of Dylan's "Love Sick".
Other highlights included "What Is Life If It Ain't Strange" and "Rush Hour Traffic With a Hangover" as the set climaxed with my favourite of the night, the badass and sultry "Bad Love", the first single from the album.
After the gritty "Wild Fucking West" and one other, the band was done for the night, but Miss Quincy and Christie Rose came back for one last song, a sweet acoustic Patsy Cline cover.

The set had a great energy; it's always nice as an audience member when you can tell the band is having fun, and all four members of the band were obviously having a blast on stage. I've had a soft spot for bluesy rock for many years now, and Miss Quincy & The Showdown are definitely a band I'll be seeing in the future.