BYWATER CALL : COLOGNE 2025

 

Disc One (56:25)

  1. Hold Me Down
  2. Sunshine
  3. Arizona
  4. Clutter
  5. Love The One You're With
  6. Silver Lining
  7. For All We Know
  8. Left Behind

Disc Two (54:01)

  1. Sweet Maria
  2. Falls Away
  3. Only
  4. One Of These Days
  5. Sign Of Peace
  6. Holler
  7. Kashmir
  8. Colours
  9. Everybody Knows
  10. Talking Backwards

Label : no label

Venue : Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne, Germany

Recording Date : June 17, 2025

Quality : FM Recording (A+)

Review : Wonderful recording of the Canadian band Bywater Call live in Köln, Germany.

Concert Review (Jazz & Rock) : When Bywater Call enters the chamber music hall of Deutschlandfunk in Cologne, the band members initially seem a bit intimidated. Perhaps it's the large, gymnasium-sized space that's packed. Perhaps it's also the fact that the concert is being recorded and will be broadcasted. In fact this impression changes abruptly. The band, led by singer Meghan Parnell and guitarist Dave Barnes, doesn't give themselves or the audience any time to warm up. Anyone who has ever seen this band live knows, they live, love and dedicate themselves to their music. What follows is an evening full of energy, dedication, and musical power, in which the classically furnished, seated hall soon transforms into a heated soul and blues arena. Hower, it's only towards the end that a few fans start dancing. Bywater Call immediately demonstrates that one of their greatest strengths is playing with collective energy. By "Sunshine" the audience is captivated - a song perfect for hot, humid summer evenings, road trips through the Southern United States, and open car windows. In the middle section, guitarist Dave Barnes and the horn trio engage in a funk-infused call-and-response dialogue that swings, crackles, ans sparkles with joy. Bywater Call masterfully builds tension - sometimes the groove propels like a laborious locomotive, sometimes the band brakes abruptly, only to accelarate again with redoubled force. At the center of the album is Meghan Parnell, a singer with an impressive presence, whose voice oscillates between raw soul, vulnerable blues, and pure power - always controlled, always full of expression. Simply captivating: the cover of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With" which breaks into a gripping jam session in the middle. Barnes and saxophonist Julian Nalli escalate into an instumental exchange - a musical duel, sometimes wild, sometimes playful, always virtuosic. “Silver Lining” begins with a march-like groove, beloved in New Orleans—heavy, almost dragging—until Parnell lays soul over it like a velvet veil. “For All We Know” unfolds into an Americana shuffle, supported by delicate slide guitar, while “Left Behind” hits straight to the heart—with an impressive bass solo followed by a yearningly played slide-guitar solo. These are the moments when the band merges emotional depth with technical finesse, eliciting repeated enthusiastic applause from the audience. After the break, the show continues seamlessly: “Sweet Maria” gets the audience singing along, “Only” shines with a jazz-tinged guitar solo, and the elegant, restrained horn section evokes the refined sound of Steely Dan. A moving moment is the Neil Young cover “One Of These Days.” Pianist Bruce McCarthy pounds the chords into the keys with power and pathos—creating a massive, almost hymn-like soundscape—and he can sing too. Then Southern-rock soul rules again with “Sign Of Peace,” as many in the audience raise the peace sign. The mood is relaxed, buoyed by a tangible connection between stage and auditorium. Meghan Parnell doesn’t say much that evening, but she does remind the audience that just three years ago, the band played at the Yard Club for only five people—and now the hall is full. The applause that follows is more than polite. Shortly after comes “Holler,” an angry, stomping song that transitions into Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”—seamless, forceful, electrifying. The horn section simmers, the rhythm drives, and Parnell nearly explodes in her singing. With “Colours,” she showcases the full range of her talent—starting completely unplugged, she fills the hall with nothing but her voice. A goosebump moment, striking in its simplicity. “Everybody Knows” closes the regular set, and as the first audience members begin to stand and dance, the spell is truly broken. For the encore, they perform “Talk About”—one last powerful song, an appeal for community, connection, storytelling, and listening. Bywater Call doesn’t deliver a concert in the usual sense that evening—they create a musical experience that remains in memory. With craftsmanship, stylistic versatility, and emotion that gets under your skin. One of the strongest live bands you can hear right now—they prove it impressively in Cologne. And in October, they're heading to the Harmonie in Bonn.