Claire Teresa Puckett, a member of Mother Falcon, performed at the acoustic show three days prior and completely blew me away. So, after the concert, I spoke with her for a while and I decided I needed to see her group perform that Wednesday. I did a bit of research before hand, revealing that the band consisted of 18 members playing a variety of instruments ranging from the stand up bass to the clarinet to the acoustic guitar.  After hearing all this, I honestly had no idea what to expect.

Upon arriving at the Echo Wednesday night with my mom after a fatiguing soccer practice that left me all sweaty, I proceeded to panic due to the sign looming on the door stating that the concert was 18+. I walked over to a small sandwich shop and drank a smoothie to sooth my nerves, but in situations like these, even liquidized fruit could not cure my apprehension. Together, my mother and I stood in line at the door while observing a homeless man fiddle with a broken record player; both of us had our finger crossed so tightly that our knuckles turned white and shook. The official-looking man checking ID’s looked expectantly at me as if I might actually be 18; however, I just had to shake my head gloomily. To my delight, after explaining for quite some time how I was invited by Ms. Puckett and how I was a journalist, I was admitted. This resulted in an excited-but-under-my-breath, “YESSS!” which was followed by a celebratory fist-bump.

Doors opened, as usual, over an hour before the first band came on stage. So, my mom and I entertained us by watching the dizzying lights cast by the disco ball hovering over our heads circle around the room hypnotically. I tried to text my friends, but a disapproving dagger shot from my mom’s eyes returned me to the oh-so-exciting pursuit of gazing at the repositioning illuminations.

After about forty-five minutes of that exciting activity, the house lights dimmed and a murmur overtook the crowd. I bounced with nervous anticipation on the balls of my feet and repeatedly looked behind me to smile at my mom. I simply could not wait. It took a few good minutes of arranging and rearranging to cram the whole band on the tiny stage. Piled one on top of the other, the drummer could be seen after a good five minutes search and the stand up bass could be found hiding behind the saxophone trio. I quickly identified Claire as the drained girl (and the only girl) who sipped from a green and brown coffee cup. She clearly was still sick from when I talked to her on Sunday.

Mother Falcon began with an exceedingly memorable melody that showcased the impeccable intonation of the massive ensemble and the modest but remarkable vocals of the mandolin and cello player seated next to Claire in the front row. After tearing my eyes away from the mandolin (which fascinated me), I roved my eyes around to observe the lithe and capable violinist and the enjoyable and fun accordion-player. As time passed, I witnessed an extraordinary and jazzy violin solo along with an astonishing and amusing saxophone duel. I cannot find words to express the cohesive sound this band produced. Their ability to blend instruments together into each other to create different (good) noises truly astounded me. I dare say I was ready for encore after encore (except for the fact that I felt terrible for poor Claire who’s voice was clearly undergoing deep agony from the illness that plagued her). The music completely blew me away; my mom and I were converted. We ended up buying all their music and listened to it the whole ride home.

I had a blast. Thank you Mother Falcon!

This college-age-looking girl was shy as can be. Dolled up in a skirt and tights, sporting adorable glasses, she hid behind her guitar in a frightened manner. But she had no need for this because her voice was dripping of sweet honey and crisp sugar. Her guitar playing mimicked her unconfident demeanor in dynamic, but laced perfectly with her gorgeous voice. An amazing performance, I must say.

I have never—in my entire life—seen ukulele with rap. However, I can no longer say that thanks to the Irrelephants. This duo (plus one) played upbeat rock tunes coupling a guitar with a ukulele, and adding their voices to harmonize. This band had a fabulous use of rests, and utilized the spaces to their advantage, making their rhythms and sounds more unique than they already were. Some of you may be asking, so where does rap come in? Well…in the middle of the performance, an “audience member” began pressing the band to impromptu rap; the band continuously shot down the idea.  Finally, they “relented” and allowed the “audience member” to “make up a rap on the spot” that somehow magically matched perfectly with the song in the background. Although it was planned out, and the rapper was a friend, and the rap was pre-written, it still awed the crowd (and me). I can guarantee that none of you have ever heard music like this, and I can promise that if you do not look this band up and listen to their music, you are depriving yourself of exposure to a new and awesome music style. I suggest you take out whatever procrastination device that you possess, and use it immediately to listen to this band. This band falls between musicians and comedians, but not dirty like Steel Panther.    

Mimicking the shyness of Miss Apple, Ms. Claire Puckett took the stage in a way that was not really taking the stage, but more so resembled being forced to walk the plank as if the crowd was a sea of angry alligators. Of course, she clearly bested this fear and began to tell the crowd of the terrible cold that had plagued her for weeks on tour with her band (Mother Falcon) and how, through it all, she came to perform with us tonight. Upon hearing this story, I became apprehensive seeing as how I was expecting a hoarse and squeaky sick-person voice (sounding somewhat like how I sing on a good day). This concern became irrelevant (not irrelephant) when she opened her mouth and poured forth a soothing soprano river of words that melted into the air and mixed with our breath and awe. She wowed everyone piled into Tone’s living room eating empanadas and sitting cross-legged on a Parisian-esque carpet. Her original tunes were creative and touching; her solo work is in fact available for purchase. If you have time, please take it to look at some of her work, it will indeed shock you as it did me.  In fact, I was so impressed that I went that next Wednesday to see Mother Falcon perform at the ECHO (and was equally impressed).