Gibson et Mecanique

Beginning the show with a list of excuses as to why things may not go well, such as 3 of the 5 band members being absent, and a lack of playing together or practicing for a month, proved to be wholly unnecessary. Musee Mecanique entertained the gathering of people at the Attic with a stripped down set of slow, steady songs. Primarily focused on the acoustic guitar and lead vocals (which were swapped partway through) they played a handful of pretty songs that were spiced up at times with keys, a touch of melodica and a few strikes of the xylophone. Laura Gibson joined the duo as a backup singer for a quicker finger-plucking number nearer to the end. As it turned out they had nothing to be worried about.

The same two members also played the role of backing band for the next act. Each of them mixed up the sound by coupling the playing of two very different instruments simultaneously. For example, while Micah strummed a bass and kicked a drum, Sean would tap on both a keyboard and a xylophone. On the next track it would be Sean starting with an accordion and switching to a lay-down violinesque instrument played with a bow, and Micah would man the melodica and then reverberate around the room by playing a saw (also with a bow). All of this instrumentation simply lent support to the spotlight of the show which was Laura Gibson's lovely voice. Coming across very well in the small space, she sang like JayMay's quieter moments, with hints of Jenn Grant too. Not only were the vocals beautiful but the lyrics she'd penned were also quite great. Laura told a few stories in between songs, including how they had learned a Leonard Cohen song by request in one night, and they went on to play it. This song definitely sounded different than the rest of the set but was still rather enjoyable in its own way. For the finale, Laura stepped out amongst the attic full of people sitting with rapt attention and played a gorgeous acoustic song unaccompanied. It concluded with a sing-along of "This is not the end" and judging by the show, this is by no means the end of Laura Gibson as she has a very promising future.