Review: Wesley Stace and Joe Pernice make a dynamic harmonic duo at The Tin Angel

A dynamic duo of songwriting prowess played before a chilled Tin Angel crowd on Thursday. Wesley Stace and Joe Pernice played solo and sang harmonies on each other’s songs for a highly entertaining two hours. Stace began the night by stating this was the first show he ever wore a sweater on stage for, as the Tin Angel’s heat must have been on the fritz. Whatever coldness was abound before the show quickly was overcome by the warmth and humor of Stace and Pernice.

Stace with his British wit and verbiage complemented the soft spoken and dry air of Pernice. In between songs of love and memory, topics including which performer had more of their own songs on their iPod and the perception of vulgarity by both young and old gave the set a rich flavor. Stace mostly played songs from his 2013 album Self-Titled. Stipping the work down to the essence of his words, the vocals, and guitar brought out the richness in the work, especially the stand out tracks from the album, “When I Knew” and “The Dealer’s Daughter.”

Pernice played songs from his many band iterations including the Scud Mountain Boys (including a great rendition of “Grudge Fuck”) and the Pernice Brothers (with a stand out “Goodbye, Killer”). The show progressed with great music and banter that concluded with a very satisfying cover of Del Shannon’s “I Go to Pieces.” To only be one week into 2014 and to have experienced a show this great gets one pumped for a great year of music and beyond.