Jim Noir @ The Water Rats
April 24, 2008
by Joanna Orland
Jim Noir is an ace performer and a man of the people. The crowd was with him 110% at all times. From the start where the sound was so quiet that nobody even noticed that he had started playing, to the middle where the sound was so loud and uncontrollable that it was feedbacking at a deafening level and randomly cutting out, to the end where finally by Jim’s LAST song we could actually make out what he was playing.
As a musician on stage Jim had every right to go ape shit on the venue’s sound guy… and I’m a sound gal myself so this is the God’s honest truth. But no, Jim is far too nice to do such a thing and instead made the most of the situation and joked around with the audience (and sound guy) about how shit the sound was. He never ever lost his cool. What a trooper.
To be truthful, the ridiculous incapacity of the soundman did ruin the show to some degree, as it was hard to enjoy Jim’s songs all the way through without something happening like an instrument cutting out or someone’s ears starting to bleed. But Jim himself, his songs, his performance, and his bond with the crowd made this gig highly enjoyable – triumph over tragedy!
His songs are damn catchy and his charisma lights up the entire room. After Jim finished playing, he walked through the crowd and everyone gathered round to shake his hand – a man of the people indeed. And you people should buy his new self titled album which is in stores now. Or catch him at a proper venue where the sound isn’t either inaudibly quiet or ear-bleedingly loud.
