Live Music Review: Acoustic Lounge

Published April 25, 2007

By Peter Casasa-Blouin

Word of mouth goes a long way in a community like Burlington. I met Kamary randomly downtown one night, and he mentioned that he hosts Thursday nights at Acoustic Lounge. In turn, I mentioned that I was writing a music column trying to expose the student body to venues they would otherwise not have known about.

Acoustic Lounge is a single room tucked discreetly in the back of Parima on Pearl Street. At first glance it seems exclusive in its intimacy, but as I sat on one of many oriental rugs surrounded by dim red lights I noticed that those gathered didn’t fit any particular category, stereotype, group or what have you (which didn’t make my editors very happy).

College students and business people came together to enjoy a quiet setting and listen to rustic acoustic sounds. Some of the regulars told me that a new wave of people come in each week.

Kamary, the host, recently moved to Burlington from Germany and wanted to bring something different to our little city. The special guest that night was the Buffalo-born musician Mario Petrillo, who had put his guitar down and his pen away for two years only to reemerge in front of us. The unusual event was shared with a German audience via webcam who stayed up until four in the morning to listen to Mario.

Mario was not the only performer. There was a recitation (from a poem tattooed on Mario’s arm); an opening act, in which Kamary sang his socially conscious reaction to the recent killings in Virginia called “Maybe Tomorrow;” and as if this weren’t enough for your donated admission, Dominique Gagne, next Thursday’s headliner, played a flute solo from Genesis.

Mario made it a point to impress upon the audience how rare an environment like the Acoustic Lounge is. As big industry controls the sound waves, large venues become the norm. Mario thanked us for our attentiveness staying, “It’s impossible to play acoustic over background noise.” The audience felt like a part of the performance, enjoying both the performance and the other audience members. Where else can I lie on a rug, talking to the performer and occasionally encouraging him on, reminding him that an audience never knows when you’re rusty.

If you appreciate the craft of music, the authenticity of acoustic performance, Thai food, and reasonably priced drinks, this well-kept secret may be a Thursday night must see, worth my having exposed it.

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