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A quick perusal through these ticket stories would soon show that I’ve long had an almost god-like appreciation for Kevin Breit. The guy is a guitar-playing monster of the highest order; a musician who makes my heart expand with every inflection, one who surprises me not only at every show, but with every single solo break. Ideas spill out of his head as fast and consistent as his long, deft fingers yank notes out of his beat up, poorly painted Strat.
The guy is a calibre of his own, and he tells a great story too.
And so I was thrilled and excited for the chance to hear Kevin lead his Mandolin Quartet on July 27th, 2016 at a new Ottawa venue on King Edward Street (of all places) called La Nouvelle Scène.
It was a sparsely attended show, with maybe thirty people sitting around large, round cocktail tables. I sat with a half-dozen friends and struggled to stay interested for the entire performance.
I’ve heard Kevin play the mandolin many times before and he is no less astounding with those eight tiny strings than he is with his usual six. Heck, give the guy a broom handle and a piece of rope and he will astound and amaze, but for some reason I couldn’t get into a single thing the man was playing at this show. He was no less brilliant than usual and his compatriots were all very talented, but this stands as the only time I’ve heard Kevin Breit play music where I wasn’t drawn in like a moth to a streetlight from the first note to the last.
I don’t know, maybe he was having an off night. Or maybe I was. Either way I will still run to buy tickets to see him the next time he comes to town, no question about that.
Todd Man Out 