LV GirlFestival at the Frog

October 26, 2009 by Jordan Healy 

Ongoing female festival sponsors night at popular local bar

The Las Vegas GirlFestival held one of its 11 concerts at the Freakin’ Frog last Wednesday, providing patrons with an interesting evening of all-female musical groups.

Tracey Hope was the first of the night to perform and took the stage with just her acoustic guitar.

For those who haven’t been to the Freakin’ Frog, the scene in the venue is almost comical – the wall behind the stage is painted to look like red brick, as though the crowd is in a comedy club rather than a bar.

But Hope’s music was no joke. Her voice is astounding and truly unique. While conveying deep emotion, she never once trudges into familiar territory with her lyrics or style. In fact, she bears a deep honesty that is evident in her stage presence.

As she was playing, she slipped up more than once in her guitar-playing, and rather than let it go unnoticed, she always smiled and shook her head and even once gave a simple apology. Something about this acknowledgment and acceptance of her own mistakes makes her music all that much more attractive.

The music itself was wonderful. She began several songs by pounding out a beat on the body of the guitar, which would then loop throughout the entirety of the song as she played over it. There was an impressive track where she looped a beat and two or three interlacing guitar parts that all came together in a flurry of lush tones.

Hope performed jaw-dropping covers of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” Though these covers were re-interpreted in her own original style and were excellent, it would have been nice to hear more of her originals.

In direct contrast to Hope’s sincerity-laden set of music, pianist Shauna Burns’ set felt more like a photo shoot than a concert.

The extremely cute Burns pouted and made funny faces during her set, focusing more on looking good for the camera than on concentrating on the music.

This behavior might have been excused if her music was engaging, but the tunes failed to hit the mark. While she is an accomplished pianist and vocalist, her music felt more like mediocre facsimiles of Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan songs.

It was an excellent chapter in this year’s GirlFest, though some performances were certainly better than others.

For those interested in experiencing Hope’s music for themselves, she will perform again at the Freakin’ Frog on Oct. 29 and Nov. 19 as part of the Acoustic Accord nights.

Shauna Burns’ next stop is Nov. 14 at the Phoenix Faerie Festival.