Friday night at the beloved Exchange, Luke Doucet and the White Falcon along with opening act the Sunparlour Players performed. Doucet’s reputation preceded him to Regina thanks to extensive radio play on CBC Radio 2. It was a solid performance with Doucet’s raging guitar forging the way through much of the show.

Doucet is a great guitarist. He mixes the best of the blues with poppy, melodic lyrics to create some catchy, yet steady tunes. His band name “The White Falcon” seems fitting thanks to the Gretsch White Falcon hollow body guitar he chose to play for most of the show.  Lyrically his songs didn’t really appear to be saying anything exciting, more like Doucet just needed to fill the space in between the awesome guitar solos.

The opening act was an Ontario based threesome called The Sunparlour Players. They have a great quirky rhythm folk sound and their vintage bass drum stage set-up really suits their style. The audience seemed apprehensive at first, but after a few songs toes started tapping.

I didn’t see anything at this show that sets Luke Doucet apart as an exceptional performer or musician, but that’s part of carrying high expectations into a performance one is attending. Don’t let the previous statement fool you – he is definitely a very talented musician and his experience shows in his comfort on stage.

Photo by Kim Jay