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Review Fri Apr 12 2013
Review: Rhye @ Schubas, 4/11
Before Rhye even went on stage at Schubas last night, there were numerous announcements that the music room's bar would close for the performance and to refrain from talking loudly during the show. Why this announcement isn't made before every show is a mystery. However, surprisingly, it did seem to do some good at first. Similarly, dozens of "NO PHOTOS" signs were effective.
Rhye's moody downtempo R&B-influenced sound doesn't necessitate silence from listeners, but it does help to appreciate singer Mike Milosh's pristine near-falsetto voice when there isn't babbling about an ex-boyfriend over your shoulder. On the debut album, Woman, Rhye is Milosh and Robin Hannibal. Live, though, the music takes on a different life with altered arrangements by a five-piece band that doesn't include Hannibal. They're completely in synch with Milosh and he took advantage of their prowess, in part by improvising and even joking about keeping band members guessing where he was leading a song.
Turning "Last Dance" into a heavy groover that peaked with a trombone solo put some life into a hushed crowd that apparently didn't want to be shamed if caught chatting or having any fun. A back-to-back punch of "Open" and "Hunger" (also featuring a terrific trombone solo) showed off some of the best of Rhye with Milosh's ethereal vocals over simmering tension and space-aged jazzy funk, respectively. In a way, the restraint that Milosh shows reminds me of Jessie Ware because you know there is another gear, but it shouldn't be overdone. Whereas Ware let loose at Lincoln Hall in January, Milosh didn't really get to the extra gear and let the quietness make the impact, most notably while ending on the appropriately titled "It's Over" where the instruments faded out and he kept singing the chorus while getting farther from the mic before motioning with his hands that he was done.