Apology to Matt Hales: I'm Sorry Seattle Broke You

Poor Matt Hales. Apparently he is cursed to never play a normal show in Seattle.

Matt is the driving force behind Aqualung, a brainy, mellow, chock full o' love Britpop outfit featuring his delicate voice and brilliant piano, and his brother Ben's guitar and soaring backing vocals. Aqualung are quite reminiscent of Coldplay, and you know, there are worse bands you could be compared to. Matt's a classically trained musician, and it certainly shows. After listening to Keane's big, fat, guitar-like cords on the piano, it's startling -- yet refreshing -- to hear the fragile intricacy of the piano in Aqualung.

Aqualung have released several records, but none of them in the U.S. as of yet. They'll be combining their two previous UK releases, a self-titled debut, and their gorgeous follow-up, "Still Life," into one big U.S. release sometime in May of this year. With Aqualung's first U.S. release, Coldplay's new record coming out sometime this summer, and Keane's rumoured softmore effort in October, this will be the year of emotional, piano-driven music from the UK. And thank god for that.

Last night at the Crocodile Cafe here in beautiful downtown Seattle, local independent radio station KEXP sponsored an evening with Aqualung. After Matt Hales croaked his way through the first song, he put his cute little bespectacled head back and apologized. "We just played in San Francisco last night. At the beginning of the evening I sounded like an angel. At the end, I sounded like Tom Waits. We'll see how this goes..."

So the poor kid had completely blown his voice out the night before. But like the little trooper he is, he refused to give up. The backing vocals of his brother helped lift the raspy-voiced Hales up, but during the 3rd song, his voice was cutting in and out, and I was positive he'd have to call the show. He took a swig of scotch and gave the audience an option: either they could quit now, or we could all listen to somewhat different versions of the songs. We opted for the latter, and he was more than happy to oblige. "This is the first time I've ever played these songs for you, and I'd very much like to continue." How cute is that?

Between songs, Hales was incredibly chatty, humble, hilariously funny, very intimate, and just a lot of fun to listen to. Unfortunately, the Crocodile was packed. Aqualung is not a band you stand up for. They're quiet and introspective, and their sound would be much better served in a lounge-type atmosphere with tables and chairs. Of course, when the floor of the Crocodile is packed, you can be standing stock still and be drenched in sweat. The heat becomes unbearable, and with the long, quiet songs and Hales' chatting between songs, making the evening even longer, it becomes a bit of a problem.

Another thing I thought they could have used was their drummer. The guitar and piano thing is innovative and works for some of the very quiet songs, but for the upbeat tunes, the lack of drums was disconcerting. You need that beat to ground the songs, especially live.

The fans were really there for the band, bringing Hales his scotch and cheering even louder after the songs where his voice cut in and out, keeping him encouraged and feeling the Seattle love. He mentioned that it was his first time in Seattle, and told a long story about why. Aqualung were touring in support of Dido a few years back, and were scheduled to play in Seattle, when Hales' wife unexpectedly went into labor with their first child. Hales had to fly back home, and his brave, brave brother Ben showed up in Matt's stead to keep the show going. Unfortunately, reports from people who were there are mixed as to the success of the solo gig.

And now this time in Seattle, his poor poor voice was just wrecked. I'm listening to him doing an in-studio on KEXP right now, and his voice is fairing much better than it did last night. So perhaps the many shots of scotch and a full night's sleep actually did some good.

Overall the show was great. Not without its flaws of course, but they're just getting into this U.S. touring thing, and once they have the logistics honed, it should be a wonderful time. During his interview on KEXP, he just admitted to needing a drummer, so it looks like we might be on our way. Definitely check them out the next time they're in town. Just find a chair, sit back, relax with a drink, and enjoy the evening.