Show Review: Dessa, Aby Wolf and Passalacqua at Pike Room, May 16

Dessa

It was a special night for in Pontiac’s Pike Room last night as Dessa and company dazzled the crowd to a delightful night of inspired hip hop and soul. Aby Wolf, a backup singer and artist in her own right set the tone of the night with some her original soul songs. With a sultry beats provided courtesy of her very subdued DJ,  Aby stretched her vocals into soulful R&B harmonies.

Aby Wolf

Passalacqua, a local hip hop fave, came up next and added some fun to the show with a jazzy mix and shared rapping. They had the crowd singing along “before I do my thing I do my other thing!” The exchanges between the two lead rappers was sharp and amusing for the entire set.

Passalacqua

Dessa who has crafted her storytelling/rap into her own original music genre, came on around 10:30pm. With a full and very competent backing band, Dessa captivated the crowd with every song.  The songs were given an extra boost with addition of backing vocals from Aby Wolf. Dessa performed a number of new tracks from the upcoming Doomtree record as well as tracks from her recently released “Castor, Twin.”  This was the last night of her tour and I think she kept this in mind throughout her performance. Dessa wrapped up the show singing a number of them off the stage and in the center  of the crowd, making the songs and night intimate and memorable.