It’s always awesome when a girl can rock on the acoustic guitar, even more awesome when you can go see her show for free.
Starbucks has started a free concert series on Friday nights, and unlike its over-priced beverages, the shows lack pretension. On Friday, Oct. 6, I had the pleasure of listening to 19-year-old Allison Weiss croon underneath Christmas lights, amongst candles and surrounded by her closest friends.
I had never heard of Allison Weiss until a friend, who works at SBUX and had booked Weiss, asked me to come out and hear good girlie music. I was expecting a cross of Michelle Branch-wannabe mixed with Avril Lavigne’s angst but missing the ability to play guitar. I was pleasantly surprised.
Weiss, a waspy-looking 19 year old who wears horn-rimmed glasses (possibly trying for the whole Lisa Loeb thing), has an excessive amount of self-assurance, and it comes off in her performance. Although she’s perched on top of a stool, looking like she might fall off it if the weight of her guitar finally takes a toll on her tiny body, the girl rocks.
The young songstress is laid back and personal with the audience, joking with her friends in between songs, asking someone to buy her a shot of espresso to kick her tempo up a notch and even calling a guy friend on his cell phone halfway through her show to ask why he’s delinquent.
The atmosphere was relaxed and romantic. I wished I had brought a guy instead of my roommate because it would have been a great first date. There were only 20 or so people, so Allison started chatting people up in the audience she didn’t know from her perch on the mini-stage. She asked my roommate if she liked the piece of pumpkin bread she was munching on, replying it was her favorite snack from SBUX. Kind of quirky, but still funny.
Weiss has her vulnerabilities as a young, teenage singer-songwriter, but one can’t recognize them in her music. She could rival Vanessa Carlton on stage, if someone handed her a record deal, but then she might lose her feisty edge.
Sure, her coffee-house, pseudo-open-mic night may seem a bit unprofessional, but she used it to her advantage. She gave true explanations of what inspired her to write certain songs, such as “I was drunk on the beach and it hit me” or “This is about my friend sitting in the purple chair to stage left.”
Her self proclaimed “hook-filled acoustic power pop” is just that. Her song “I’m Ready” is incredibly catchy, and “Number 6” sounds like a female version of a Dashboard Confessional track minus Chris Carrabba’s whines. The rest of her set list was a veritable chick-rock fest, with songs about broken hearts, missed opportunities and vengeful songs about getting back at the boy who cheated on her.
Weiss could have been another emo-infused feminist, but she’s not. Her emotions translated into likable lyrics that were playing in my head for the rest of my Friday after I left Starbucks. I came home and downloaded a few of her tracks from her MySpace page, and the line “I’m ready if you’re ready” is still ringing in my head.
Her next show is at Tasty World on Oct. 19. This one isn’t free, but I’ll go there anyway. I love it when a girl can rock, and thinks I do too.
—Lauren Morgan
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