Music
Songstress Choffel heading east
Courtesy photo
New York-bound goddess — Suzanna Choffel last stops before she explodes.
Published: October 12, 2011
That said, it seems important to shift attention to her future. One of Choffel’s last regional gigs will be the 3rd Annual Utopia Fest (Oct 14-15), an intimate Hill Country music festival with a 1,500-person capacity (see sidebar). She plans to record the Carla Thomas classic “Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas” and avoid a second five-year gap between albums by releasing a follow-up to Steady Eye in the spring. Though it’s not guaranteed, she also hopes to take her act to Europe next year.
More importantly, Choffel will give a farewell show at Luna this Friday. With her move scheduled for October’s end and nothing but studio or international work planned in the coming months, Friday’s show may be the last time fans get to see her in such an intimate venue.
In August, Choffel and her backing band put a hurt on Luna, running through factory-tightened renditions of new Steady Eye cuts like “Racecar,” “Archer” and the scattily funked-up “Stumble.” The latter was a beast of jazzy, break-beat fusion lacking the varied timbre of the studio cut, but packed with the intensity expected from trip-hop-laced live drums and two guitars trading solos like punches (one of which was, naturally, Choffel’s). The song’s staccato bridge was a syncopated sucker punch, one that fans will likely see this Friday but may not feel again for some time. •
Suzanna Choffel
Call for prices
9pm Fri, Oct 14
Luna Fine Music Club
6740 San Pedro Ave
(210) 804-2433
lunalive.com
Suzanna Choffel at UTOPiAfest with Keller Williams, The Giving Tree Band, and many more
UTOPiAfest is a two-day arts and music festival. It’s also kind of little for a fest, accommodating only 1,500 people in a natural amphitheater on 1,000-acre Four Sisters Ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Lost Maples and Garner State Park. The event features Grupo Fantasma, Black & White Years, among others. Friday night will be headlined by Blitzen Trapper, whose Furr was ranked #13 on Rolling Stone’s Best Albums of 2008 list. Tickets, directions, and a fairly in-depth camping guide can be found at utopiafest.com.
$59-$158 (admission varies by age)
2:30pm Sat, Oct 15
Arrowhead Stage
1555 Lemond Road
Utopia
(512) 291-6991
utopiafest.com
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