Location: Velden am Wörthersee (Carinthia) / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
Concert date: 02.10.2015
Attendance: 70
Ticket price: €30 / €35 on the day of the show / Kelag members €25 / students €20
Fall is always a busy season for live music. In fact, that very first Friday night you could have caught a good gig in at least four different places. But in the end, the choice of where to go wasn’t that hard, because Ian Moore was playing the royal hall of blues, Bluesiana, over in Austria, just north of us.
Ian Moore is an American musician from Austin, Texas. Over his long career he has put out 12 solo albums, most of them self-released after running into trouble with record labels. His music touches on both rock and blues. Back home he’s also known for running songwriting workshops. He performs solo with his backing band, The Lossy Coils, and local bands often call on him to collaborate too, mostly to help out with studio recordings.
Showing up early at Bluesiana pointed to a rather gloomy night – apparently Ian Moore’s name isn’t enough of a draw to pull in crowds, not even of local music lovers. But things picked up over time and new faces slowly started trickling in, including some that us regulars had never seen at Bluesiana before. Maybe Ian Moore’s show also served as good advertising for future concertgoers at Bluesiana.
It’s not often that we get a support act at Bluesiana, but it has happened before, and it did again this time. Warming up the stage and the crowd for Ian Moore was a familiar face at Bluesiana – guitarist Anthony Basso of W.I.N.D., a band that, unlike Ian, has already played the Bluesiana stage quite a few times. Anthony comes from Udine, Italy. Besides his work with W.I.N.D., he also does his own thing, and this time, backed by just an acoustic guitar, he sang a handful of his own songs. The crowd welcomed him warmly, and Anthony did his warm-up job with flying colors. We’ll surely see him at Bluesiana again, maybe even as a solo act.
Ian Moore and his crew of musicians marched onto the stage a little after nine. Right from his opening words he charmed the crowd with his calm, kindness and tenderness. He politely greeted everyone and explained where and under what circumstances the song he was about to play had been written. And he did that before every single tune, so we listeners got a peek behind the song before we even heard it.
You might expect Ian and the guys to be laid-back on stage, with lyrical, slow-and-sweet songs. But that wasn’t the case. Ian Moore’s charisma really did melt at least the female half of the crowd, but on the other hand, once he started singing and played together with the guys from The Lossy Coils, nobody could stand still anymore. The rhythms were bouncy at times, mellower at others, but the melody was catchy and easy on the ears the whole way through, so it didn’t take much more to get the crowd moving.
Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils are real pros as musicians. All those miles on the road really show in their playing and in the performance itself. You can hardly detect a single mistake, and the stage was totally relaxed. There was just enough banter with the crowd to spice up the show, and thanks to that perfect balance the audience was eating out of Ian’s hand. When he wanted cheering, they cheered enthusiastically; when it was needed, we were quiet. Ian skillfully conducted his songs through the room like a bandleader, sometimes with sensual, lyrical blues, other times with a tougher, almost rock-leaning edge. Either way, it was smooth, relaxed, and delivered with an incredible feel for music.
Definitely one of the better gigs I’ve seen, even though Bluesiana always hosts quality musicians. With his refined musical sensibility and effortless naturalness, Ian Moore wowed the audience. We really hope that Bluesiana’s simplicity and warmth won him over enough that this won’t be his first and last visit to this wonderful club in Velden. He’s an act you absolutely need to see and hear again.
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