When Teitur took the stage at Petit Campus last Monday night he had the air of a seventh grader at a high school variety show. Timid and nervous looking, he walked across the stage, positioned himself atop a stool, hunched over his guitar, closed his eyes, and then, without any introduction, slipped into the show’s opener.
Despite his awkward demeanour, out came the sound of a confident and refined musician.
For two hours Teitur entertained the audience with clever musical arrangements coupled with soft, easy-on-the-ears vocals.
The crowd was small, amounting to no more than 40 people, but the venue’s intimacy fit Teitur’s unassuming approach.
His lyrics are charming, never pretentious, and he executes them with heartfelt emotion.
For the most part, the night was filled with familiar tunes off of his debut album, Poetry and Airplanes, but he road-tested some new material as well.
Judging from the eruption of applause, “One and Only” and “Sleeping with the Lights On,” were crowd favourites.
As for his recent work, they have all the qualities that define his earlier creations: thoughtfulness, modesty and sincerity. If they are any indication of what to expect on his sophomore project, we’ll be hearing a lot of Teitur in the future.
After spending much of last year opening for John Mayer, Teitur is showing signs of becoming a promising headliner.
He played solo the entire night but never lost the audiences’ attention. His performance flirted with perfection as he treated every note and every chord with individual care.
The highlight of the evening came when the multi-instrumentalist set his guitar aside in favour of the organ, upon which played a haunting rendition of “Josephine.”
Towards the end of the show he looked out into the audience and asked endearingly if we wanted to hear more. Of course we did. By then it was obvious that he hadn’t noticed that fans were lip-synching to every song.
The only downside to Teitur’s live performance is the realization that his CD doesn’t do him justice. As enjoyable as Poetry and Airplanes may be, Teitur’s live performances reveals a richness in his voice that the album fails to capture.
After the show Teitur gladly joined the crowd to meet with fans. He took his time with each person, asking them their name, answering their questions and welcoming conversation.
During the post-show meet and greet, he announced that he’s looking forward to revisiting Montreal some time in April. Here’s hoping for an encore.