Royal Wood and Serena Ryder @ Petit Campus – December 11th

Posted on December 13, 2008

I guess I’m a pretty cynical person in general, and when it comes to my tastes in music, I’m not really one to let myself get carried away into romantic love songs so much, unless they reflect my agnostic feelings towards the “L” word. That was until last year I discovered this brilliant musician who goes by the name Royal Wood. Once again (because I know I tend to say that a lot), I’d like to say that the pseudonym fits the musical act . His music is lush and rich while remaining very organic, that is without any unnecessary bells and whistles. His style is reminiscent of love songs the way they used to be done back in the day. When he stepped up on stage last Thursday at Petit Campus looking all handsome in his suit and with his hair slicked back, I knew I was in for a treat.

Yes, it’s true, I spent the whole set swooning over the beautiful man who played a variety of songs from his latest album, A Good Enough Day, as well as some tunes from previous records. Royal switched from piano to guitar a few times, but I believe that it’s on the piano that he shows his most impressive skills. His playing style sort of reminds me of what Bill Evans would’ve sounded like had he not been a Jazz musician. The melodies are carried along in similar keys and progresses with similar inertia. Maybe it’s just my deep affection for both of their musics that brings me to the comparison, but I found it very impressive to watch Royal’s hands moving along the keyboard with such ease and flare.

His song writing is pretty great, and stands apart from than the usual musical trends. His lyrics are lovely and poetic. Some people are blessed with the ability to find beauty in the little things in life and communicate that through poetry or music. Royal is one of those people. Apparently he was sick, but it wasn’t very apparent in the way he played that night. The first two songs were a bit stiff, but he warmed up pretty quick, stepping out of the sick man’s skin and into the delectable swagger of his music. Knowing that he was ill, I could detect some minor changes in the warmth of his voice, but had I not known, I probably wouldn’t even had noticed. His so called “cold-infused set” sounded wonderful.

A few things bothered me about this show though. Since there’s a dance club upstairs, the quieter parts of Royal’s songs were spoiled by some extremely annoying beats coming from upstairs. Also, all the people going dancing could be heard coming up the stairs and talking while the atmosphere at Petit Campus was very relaxed. The bar could’ve easily closed the door to keep the sound disturbances at a minimum, and had the show started earlier, I don’t think we would’ve had that issue.

Second thing that was on my mind was that for Serena Ryder‘s set, there was plenty of people there, but a great number of them left after her act. I’m pretty sure the people who were there for Ms. Ryder would’ve very much enjoyed Royal Wood’s set, but it’s their lost. Serena Ryder was a good act at best. She is a delightful performer with lots of energy and a great voice, but I didn’t feel her songs were unique at all. There were some twists that were very interesting, but overall, her songs were pretty cliché and after the first half of her set, I started to get bored. Ms. Ryder is a very good player and sings wells, but her songs need some work, because though they weren’t unique, I saw a lot of potential to be special and a lot more interesting.

Photos by SarahBrideau.com