Shalabi Effect

The problem with pairing headliners Soft Canyon with Sam Shalabi and friends is that some rock fans assume that avant garde instrumental music craves a vocal track. These guys are into improv, yes, but it would have been nice if the audience had shut the hell up. While local tap-dancer Sarah Febbraro (aka Big Gold Hoops) hoofed around the stage, the band’s plodding melodies (initially squeezed out of a super-cute, itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie electric guitar), skipping-stone beats, Eastern percussion and dense, droning swathes of noise wafted through the room. Unfortunately, the band’s frustration weakened their usually magnetic creations.