While most were away at play in Austin over the weekend, a few of us L.A. dwellers stayed local capping the toasty week with a cozy, “liquid cool” Nite Jewel set at the Echo Friday night. Staying properly lo-fi with synth doused disco, languid levels filled the charmingly dingy dive to the brim. Plunking on the keyboard in her vertical red, blue and gray striped blouse, singer and SoCal native Ramona Gonzalez’s sweet high-pitched drone and easy echoes kept L.A.’s east side tuned in, turned on, and ok with not being able to make out about 97 percent of her lyrics.
Nite Jewel’s warmth and moodiness is highlighted by the three folks on stage – Gonzalez casts soft grins and toe tapping, bass guitarist Corey Lee Garnet comes off as ice cold, never really changing his somber expression (we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way), while Emily Jane Kuntz, on sampler and midi-keyboards, jams with eyes closed, head waving and hips shaking. In a way, it’s kind of the perfect 3-way split personality.
Though she didn’t play two of her strongest hits, “Suburbia” and “What Did He Say,” Gonzalez did pump out the solid “Weak For Me” with it’s 80’s tinge and light danceable quality from album Good Evening.
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