The Stables at Karma Lounge in Oshawa, ON April 22nd, 2010 by Myles LaCavera - Writer & Walid Lodin - Photographer - club.kingsnake contributors
The Stables stood in defiant juxtaposition to all around them; crammed on the tightly packed Karma stage it appeared that the band might not get to play their set after a painstaking house sound system delay. Patient in their plaid Wrangler button ups, set against the slick modern set of Karma trend, the Stables seemingly willed the PA into working order and probably would have played without it if they had to. That’s the thing about The Stables and their alt-country hash; they don’t need the bright lights of some posh hang-about to win you over. These three guys would be just as comfortable playing the deck at your cottage, and probably blow you away there just as easily.
Despite a small gathering of local fans the band set up against a crowd set upon seeing USS in all their manic folk-hop glory and as the hockey stick and wash tub bass, illuminated banjo, and suitcase kick drum (yes, a real suitcase) decorated the stage there were more than a few eye brows raised through the blue collar crowd. But from the opening notes of their set The Stables were snapping necks and the “what the hell is this?” flipped to “what the hell is this!?!” on mass.
Ripping through tracks off of a self-titled disc that is currently testing the endurance of my car stereo including “I Let You Down” made great use of their iridescent banjo, and created a small stomping circle in the middle of the crowd. The band rotated instruments, each taking a turn on guitar, drum kit and bass, and showed just how talented these three really are with none looking out of place wherever they played. The Johnny Cash era bass-walk of “Underneath The Tree” reminded us all of how folk was meant to be played, with enough honesty and sweat to win any crowd over. It was evident that The Stables love what they do and are close to mastering one of the most elusive tasks in music, and that which every band should strive for – getting simple right. A track like “I Believe In Bigfoot” made for a hilarious sing-along and burned up with some fine country picking, and whiles “Ball And Chain missed its parlor piano it missed none of its Band-like charm.
Comparisons to Bob Dylan’s old mates shouldn’t stop there as “What’s A Man Gotta Do?” and “When The Morning Comes”, disappointingly left out of their raucous set, come close to what Helm and Co. might have offered up as B-sides to Big Pink. Heartbreaking harmonies provide no comfort to an anti-hero faced with a hard life on the lamb in “When The Morning Comes” and stands as one of The Stables’ best tracks. “Darkness” is carried by a sorrowful fiddle, soft kit-work and lyrically haunted by an unnamed and ever present danger. What is best about the disc is that at every turn it insists that it will play well live, and The Stables proved that Thursday night. They may have thanked Cuff The Duke in their liner notes but if I were Cuff The Duke I’d be looking over my shoulder because The Stables are coming, and possibly coming soon with a follow up disc. Oh, and they play a wicked cover of The Vaselines’ “Molly’s Lips” like you’ve never heard. So, pony up and get into the Stables.
