The Weepies: Beautiful Simplicity

There is nothing like a night with a singer/songwriter, a night usually accompanied by a small crowd, few instruments, and a lot of stories. On this night, we were treated to two duets of such talent: The Silent War and the Weepies.

The Silent War is made up of Garrison Starr and Adrianne Gonzalez – long time friends and musical collaborators. Their soul came out immediately in their harmonies and emotion. In true singer/songwriter fashion, they connected with the crowd by sharing a personal story. Before playing the song “Same as You,” Adrianne described standing in line at a courthouse in Van Nuys, CA, with her fiancee Mandy, about to get a marriage license and thinking how cool it was to just be a normal couple on the verge of a wedding. In the end, they fulfilled a dream by taking the stage with the Weepies, a band in which they had found musical inspiration.

When Deb Talan and Steve Tannen took the stage, the crowd was in a frenzy. Simplicity is the brand of their music. Simple melodies, lyrics, and smiles are what they deliver to the crowd. It was palpable, and very apparent, that the stage made them truly happy. Their recent release, “Sirens,” and their current tour are even more special because Deb fought cancer in all of 2014 and was recently declared cancer-free. “Brand New Pair of Wings” aptly described her determination to beat the disease, and was the highlight of my night.

When one leaves a concert feeling as strong of a connection to the musician as they do to the music, it is an indescribable feeling that makes a person a lifelong fan; by baring a part of their hearts, that is exactly what the Weepies and the Silent War accomplished on this Thursday night.