Concert review: Vanessa Peters and Salim Nourallah at Opening Bell (April 25)

by Zach Lewis of Zlew.net

Last week was a long week of music for me, and the final show took me back for a second night in a row to Opening Bell at the Mosaic, and this night it was to see two local artists who are about to head to Europe on separate tours. Salim Nourallah will be across the pond in Germany and France for a few weeks, and Vanessa Peters tells me she will be in places I can’t pronounce until next fall.

One of the things I like to do during a show is to shift my attention from the stage to the audience to get a feel for what type of connection there is between the artist and the crowd, and the level of engagement. Before Salim started, I noted how diverse the crowd was with almost every age group represented, and when I checked them all out during the show it was impressive to see that not only was every one engaged with their eyes on the stage, but most of them were quietly singing along. His set was a good mix of tunes from his new album, some old favorites, and even some Nourallah Brothers tunes.

Miss Peters was on stage with her very talented guitarist Manuel Schicchi. The last show I saw of hers was a solo show, and the addition of Manuel and new tracks from her new album Sweetheart, Keep Your Chin Up made for a very different and much more upbeat show. The audience was also very well versed with her music, and I was surprised at how many people were singing along to the tracks from the new album. The show was very well played and very entertaining; I’m happy that I got to see her play before she heads out for her summer European tour. She has quite a few tracks on her MySpace and CD Baby, make sure to check them out.