Hailing from Toronto, Canada, rock/soul/blues/roots band Bywater Call made their Denver debut last night, at the Soiled Dove Underground. The band actually made their Denver area debut two nights earlier, playing at Cactus Jack’s in Evergreen. This review is exclusively for the Soiled Dove show.
I interviewed the band’s lead vocalist Meghan Parnell back on July 26. If you haven’t read my post from that interview, you should consider checking it out before/in addition to reading this review. You can find it here… https://denverentertainmenthub.com/2023/07/28/meghan-parnell.
Although Bywater Call is generally promoted as a blues band, in truth they cross and blend multiple genres into a sound that is distinctly their own. Vocalist Parnell has a nuanced voice and style that accommodates this breadth of styles. She can be tender in one song, a powerhouse in the next, and smooth as silk in the one after that. Several times during the night, when she dug down deep and just let ‘er rip, shivers actually shot down my spine.
And while her animated stage presence certainly sets her as the band’s centerpiece, this seven-person crew is loaded, top to bottom. Lead guitarist and band co-founder (with Parnell), Dave Barnes is electrifying, especially when playing slide. The horn section of Stephen Dyte on trumpet and Julian Nalli on tenor sax adds enormous texture and substance, whether playing fills, or taking over the stage for extended dueling solos between themselves, and with Barnes. The rhythm section of Bruce McCarthy on drums and Mike Meusel on bass, does exactly what an exceptional rhythm section does – they hold everything together with little fanfare (although Meusel did throw out a tasty bass exchange with Barnes late in the show). And the newest member of the band, Alan Zemaitis on keys, wowed throughout, especially during an extended solo intro early in the set.
Together the band treated the small but lively Soiled Dove crowd to a 14-song, hour and a half set that crossed boundaries old and new, borrowed and blues. Yes, there was emphasis on the band’s most recent album, last year’s exceptional sophomore release Remain, but the band also sprinkled in a couple of tunes from their self-titled debut, and a handful each of exceptionally tasty covers (something they do a lot of) and new songs they are test-running for possible inclusion on their next album (release date TBD).
Highlights of the evening included fabulous versions of “Silver Lining” (from the Bywater Call album) and “Ties That Bind” (from Remain). That latter tune ended with an extended slide guitar jam from Barnes that had the crowd whooping. Other highlights included “Remain”, the beautiful title track from the band’s second album, and another one of those tunes where Parnell had the opportunity to mesmerize the crowd with her powerful vocals, as well as the band’s newest single release “Sweet Maria”. That tune has a distinctly, joyous New Orleans vibe (the band’s name comes from the Bywater neighborhood in New Orleans), and includes a vocal section perfect for inviting the crowd to join in and sing and clap along.
After closing the base set with an extended version of the song “Left Behind” (from Remain) the band left the stage for a couple of minutes before returning for a single song encore – a highly funkified cover version of The Band’s “The Weight”. This is a song the band almost always includes in their sets, generally as part of an encore. It was a perfect way to close out a strong set, from this incredibly talented set of players.
I mentioned at the closing of my interview article with Meghan Parnell that anyone who attended the Saturday evening show was going to hear “some outstanding music from a band you’re going to be hearing from for a long time to come”. Bywater Call did not disappoint. They are talented both individually and as a group, they have a chemistry that is palpable, and they play a blend of music and musical styles that is impossible to not connect with. Last night was one of those “points in time” nights. A little ways down the road, when this band completely blows up, the folks who were in attendance last night are going to be able to say, “I saw them way back when, in the incredibly intimate environment of the Soiled Dove Underground, when they were just on the verge of becoming the next big thing”.
Story and photos by Rick Witt www.rickwittphotography.com
