Canadian Country/ roots icons Prairie Oyster heated up a wretched, snow and ice filled Tuesday night at the Slice, Oct. 23.
Prairie Oyster don’t play very often anymore, so it was a shame the show didn’t sell out.
They haven’t lost their magic touch as they played a room shaking set of old standards which get a few of the people in their audience off their butts and onto the dance floor. Much of the set included tracks from their 2006 CD “One Kiss” including “Leaving Home” and the title track.
They began with some fine fiddle playing on “Sweet Girl” and ”She Won’t Be Lonely Long.”
Bassist Russell DeCarle sang most of the lead vocals, though Keith Glass sang a couple in between tearing off country fried guitar licks. Keyboardist Joan Besen stood in the shadows dwarfed by her keyboards, but sang lovely harmonies as well as singing lead on another.
They played a lot of twanging honky tonking music, mixed with a lot of blues, quite a bit of Dwight Yoakham and, thanks to the fiddle, a lot of western swing influence.
Shaela Miller and Treeline opened the show as people started trickling in through the snow, with a solid set of songs from shaela Miller and Treeline, including Miller’s “Half Way in Love,” And Treeline’s Tombstone Grey,” as well as several brand new songs co-written by them both. “Curtains,” was a highlight, as was “That’s What Time Does.”
They ended with a rousing version of “Sentimental Cowboy” and “Call Me Baby,” from an upcoming new CD.
