I caught I’m Not a Pilot’s Friday, 9 March 2012 show at the Intercontinental Milwaukee, and I still think how nice it was to hear someone sing in tune. Other than the try at Radiohead, the show featured an in-tuneness that I rarely hear in music these days.
The band has no guitar — rather it focuses on vocals/piano, cello, bass, and percussion — so the show was reminiscent of Rufus Wainwright’s Want albums and tour. The music manages to be orchestral, as it were, without being musical theatre-like (–a fine style unto itself, but was not the point of this show; for recent interesting musical theatre-inspired pop, check out Charlene Kaye’s “Dress and Tie”). While I think the band is still centering its style, at best it was the best of Rufus or caught the balance of Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson’s “Winter Song.” At weaker points it fell to be like the lesser songs of Jon McLaughlin.
Check the band’s schedule out at http://www.imnotapilot.com. The Intercontinental show lacked good balance from where I was sitting (near the bar), so I suggest being less stage left and more downstage for their next show there if that’s the one you catch.
As a bonus, here’s an out-of-focus picture of the March show:
Todd Wellman 