Whispers had a unexpectedly good turnout  for their soft opening, Sept. 9 in the former Tongue n Groove building.

 They were auditioning bands on the first night, so I hung out for the Janni Lee Band, which included Pat Ackerman on bass and drummer Raz.

They played a solid set of soulful blues music including reworked blues classics like  “Hoochie Coochie Girl,” and a solid version of “The Thrill is Gone.” Janni Lee displayed an impressive set of pipes, belting out the blues, but  still held the sound down to a “whisper.”

 The band was tight with tasteful guitar solos and a solid beat.

 The venue itself hasn’t changed much though the walls look a little bare without the art. The stage is still impressive, though the curtains have been removed, leaving a big blank white screen and they still have a great sound and light systems.

 I have to admit, last time, when Vancouver’s “United Nations of music,” Delhi 2 Dublin played the Slice with the Boogie Patrol opening , I thought the Boogie Patrol blew them off the stage, so I only stayed for a few songs, thinking it couldn’t get any better.

And that’s saying something considering Delhi 2 Dublin were well on the way to tearing the roof off the place.

 This time, I was glad I stuck it out until the end, Sept. 8, at Average Joes, where Delhi 2 Dublin had the stage to themselves with new fiddle player Sara Fitzpatrick.

And while there were a few grumbles about the show not starting until 11 p.m., they were quickly forgiven, in no small part to Fitzpatrick, who, face rapt in concentration, was a blur of flying curly brown hair and frenetic fiddling, bouncing all over the stage.

The band was solid, playing a stunning smorgasbord of entertaining and hypnotic dance music combining the best of Celtic and Punjabi music with non-stop dance beats, electric sitar, fiddle, guitar, a lot of percussion, computer rhythms and bass, and R and B melodies.

And while the vocals sounded fairly similar throughout, it didn’t stop most of the 130 people at the show from crowding onto the dance floor, moving to the rhythm and jumping at the exhortation of singer Sanjay Seran, who had  the Top 40 R and B sound nailed.

They played most of their CD “Planet Electric” and then some in a show that went until just past 12:30 in the morning.