Chapter 4
Sheryl Crow continued her world tour last night at Philadelphia’s Mann Center and, as expected, she delighted the sellout crowd, who came out to the lawn on a perfect June night to hear Crow sing under the stars.
Crow was in fine voice as she ran through her catalogue of hits, from the wistful anthem “Leaving Las Vegas”
to the sunny, danceable “All I Wanna Do”
and “Soak Up the Sun.”
It was exactly what the audience had come for, everything fun and familiar; summer vacation in a ninety-minute set.
There was, however, a surprise on the menu, in the form of Crow’s opening act, a band called the Griffin Sisters, fronted by two—you guessed it—sisters who grew up in Fishtown.
The band’s sound walks the line between pop and rock, grounded by the capable musicianship of bass player Cam Gratz, drummer Tommy Kelleher, backup vocalist Zoe Griffin, and, especially, the fiery lead-guitar work of Russell D’Angelo.
But the secret sauce is lead vocalist and keyboard player Cassie Griffin, who studied classical music at the Curtis Institute before rock and roll came calling.
Griffin’s voice is a wonder, a flexible, octave-spanning marvel that left the crowd—including Crow, who joined the band for an encore—enthralled.
Griffin’s airy high notes are sweet as cotton candy; her growly low notes are sexy, soulful, bone-shaking thunder.
On Friday, the band played original tunes from their debut EP, plus a handful of covers.
From the elegiac lament “Last Night in Fishtown”
to the peppy, poppy “Flavor of the Week,”
from the country twang of “Coat of Many Colors,”
a song made famous by Dolly Parton, to the Alanis Morissette–influenced breakup anthem “The Gift,”
Cassie Griffin’s voice was a revelation.
Whenever she sang, she had the crowd in her hand.
You can hear an encyclopedia’s worth of references in Griffin’s singing: Aretha’s vibrato;
Mariah’s melisma; the powder-puff, featherlight sweetness of Go-Go’s; the ironic, cool-girl remove of the Pretenders or Liz Phair; the raspy rocker-chick of Heart ...
but Griffin has a sound all her own.
That she’s young (just twenty) and credited or co-credited for all three of the songs the band has released only adds to the impressive package.
While Griffin’s voice calls to mind a panoply of pop-rock divas, Griffin’s look echoes Mama Cass.
But Mama Cass was an exuberant dancer, joyous and unabashed in her body, while this Cass, so far, seems uncomfortable in the spotlight.
At the Mann, she barricaded herself behind her piano and seemed happy to cede the spotlight, content to let her sister dance and D’Angelo bend heroically over his guitar.
But dance moves can be learned.
Confidence can be gained.
A voice like Cassie Griffin’s is a gift from the pop gods.
She’s lucky to have it.
We’re lucky to have her.
“Flavor of the Week”
is already climbing the pop charts.
Look for the Griffin Sisters to make themselves at home there in the months and years to come.
Sheryl Crow Review
Philadelphia Inquirer, 2003