By Melina Paris, Music Columnist
The Queen Mary, an attraction in Long Beach since 1967, is making things new again with a breakout live music series, Local Band Hangout. The event happening every third Thursday of the month in the ships art deco style Observation Bar has attracted a full house since it’s start at the beginning of this year.
On its second event Feb. 16, just as it was getting dark, the room already had a full crowd
Neo-soul vocalist, Karina Nistal and guitarist, Shingo Yugi began the evening. Nistal’s voice was velvety and Yugi accompanied perfectly while still featuring his skilled playing. The duo performed a blend of covers and original tunes including Rock With You, My Cherie Amour and a Spanish rendition of Fever. These performers engaged the crowd and provided a cool start to the evening.
By the second set with Hellhounds of London the Observation Bar had a full house. Three members out of the four piece band started their set with all guitars, bass and a cajon. When they began playing it was clear why. They play strong guitar harmonies together, mostly featuring rock driven. soulful ballads. They performed a solid cover of D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar and moved into some bluesy numbers, incorporating the keys and bringing some extra rhythms and soul.
The last set featured the hip-hop influenced Olivia and Aragon. Olivia has a gift of allowing her voices range to unfold in softer but soulful expressions of hip-hop songs. Aragon, agile on guitar, brings a nuance to the hits they perform, which pull mostly from 1990’s artists including T.L.C., R. Kelly and Ice Cube. They also tossed in some original songs.
One song to note was their version of, It Was a Good Day, by Ice Cube. Yes, they performed it and it worked well. Olivia spoke about being influenced by hip-hop. She and Aragon adapt their own interpretation of the era of urban music which brought us Ice Cube and the heyday of the VIP Record store.
The lineup for March’s Local Band Hangout has just been released. It features, the folk and jazz sounds of Long Beach’s own Queen Califia and from the legendary reggae band, The Wailers, Elan Atias.
Local Band Hangout offers a congenial ambiance along with food and drink and happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. The $10 cover can includes access to the Queen Mary restaurants during the concerts.
Details: www.queenmary.com