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Written by Janet Rhoads Monday, 15 April 2013 16:47

Their live performance was filled with light and happiness.

I admit it—much as I love seeing live music, going to four concerts in one week is maybe a bit much. Ivan & Alyosha was #4 of the four concerts I went to last week and I was a crabtastic mess walking in the door. However, there was just no possible way to maintain a funk when someone like opener Jon Black of Fort Atlantic is playing guitar. Did I say playing? I mean slaying. He slayed me. Or, at least, he slayed my big, bad cranky mood like it was dragon and his guitar was a sword. He strummed the grump right out of me. He even got me to smile about world hostility via a cover of Randy Newman’s “Let’s Drop the Big One Now.” As for his own, original music, it would be a damn shame if you did not take the time directly after reading this article to go search him out and give it a listen.

Ivan & Alyosha continued to calm my frayed nerves. If you read my interview with them, you know that I called their music “gilded-with-sunshine.” Their live performance was filled with light and happiness. After a couple of small coughs, lead vocalist Tim Wilson remarked, “I’m coming off of a little something and this is the first night I feel good on tour. I feel good, St. Louis!” As the band serenaded us with their lovely compositions, most of which were from their 2013 release All the Times We Had, I was struck by how much good energy this group exudes. Obviously, Aimee Mann knows a thing or two about a thing or two. | Janet Rhoads

Photos by C. Daniel