[ATTENDED: April 6, 2023] Guster
I’ve seen Karina Rykman play with Marco Benevento three times. She is an amazing bass player with a great sound, great instincts and great jamming skills.
I was supposed to see her a few times, but the shows were cancelled for one reason or another.
So how awesome was it that she was going to open for Guster?
I didn’t really have a good sense of what her live show would be like. Her recorded solo stuff is rather synthy and kind of discoey, which I really didn’t expect. So who knew what we were going to get.
Well, her band, Chris Corsica on drums and Adam November on guitar were outstanding. The songs had a kind of disco feel (especially from the guitar playing from November) and the occasional very disco bass line that Karina threw in. But they felt modern as well.
The songs grooved and were groovy, taking the most fun aspects of disco and marrying them to a heaviness and thumping sound that worked really well.
I hadn’t really heard Rykman sing before and her voice is quiet and somewhat angelic. She must have some kind of processors on her mic because it sounded like there were harmonies a lot of the time.
Rykman must be planning on putting out an album as she has mostly released one of singles on bandcamp, and this set had four songs that aren’t available anywhere.
Her 2020 song “City Kids” drew a great reaction from the crowd and ha a super long jam –including some basslines from the likes of Radiohead thrown in.
She also played a great cover of “Chaise Longue” which the crowd went pretty crazy for. There was also a rocking cover of “The Hardest Button to Button”
Adam November was really interesting to watch. He had some kind of digital screen with which he manipulated the sounds he was making. But even without that, he was still an amazing soloist.
The whole band was a treat and Rykman is one of the most joy-filled musician I’ve ever seen. She was hanging out after the show to sell her own merch and she was super friendly and nice to chat with. I really hope her career skyrockets, because she’s awesome.
Even my wife, who really has no patience for opening acts, really enjoyed her set (and wanted a T-shirt!).
Setlist.
- Beacon
- Joyride
- All That You Wanted
- City Kids *
- Run of the Mill
- Chaise Longue (Wet Leg cover)
- No Occasion *
- The Hardest Button to Button (White Stripes cover)
- Elevator *
Elevator single (2019)
No Occasion single (2021)
City Kids single (2020)
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