Shuyler Jansen & The Deep Dark Woods - Saturday, December 15, 2007

The crowd change from Friday night to Saturday night was understandably astounding. The cell-phone carrying, fashion-caring, glossy-haired pouting crowd on Friday was replaced with smiling faces, wool coats, and flowing skirts of the alternative country crowd. I much prefer being in the positive environment of this crowd. On top of that, the show was amazing.

Shuyler Jansen has been in the music scene for over 10 years and has played more shows than I've even been to. His new album "Today's Remains" is a really good album that I've only had a small chance to peruse. With The Deep Dark Woods backing him, his songs were complemented greatly and it gave him a full sound that is just not possible to get on one's one. However, there is a serious lack of stage presence from Mr. Jansen. At one point during the show, someone shouted that she wanted him to play faster music. He remarked in a dead-pan voice, "Well, that was a ballad. Ballads are slow." This is all we got from Shuyler all night in terms of interaction with the crowd, vocally or otherwise. It's unfortunate because he's a great song-writer and has a decent voice.

After a short break, The Deep Dark Woods took the stage and took the energy up a notch or ten. They were so tight that there were moments when I wondered how long it would be before they made the big time. The whole band seemed as relaxed as the crowd that were dancing hard to their music... they must have been happy to be back in Saskatoon after touring with Shuyler Jansen across Canada. Time seemed to not exist as they played on well past 2:00 in the morning. I didn't even notice as my weekend bedtime came and went easily.

It was a great show with great people around and I think everyone was glad to have The Deep Dark Woods and Shuyler Jansen back in Saskatoon.

Crystal's rating: 8/10