IGGY RAYNA "Connected"

by jenny heying

Billed as having a hilarious stage presence that helps him deeply connect to any audience and leave them begging for more, Iggy Rayna was on my must see list. I ventured down to the The Artists Lounge Café to catch his performance and find out for myself what his stage presence was all about.

A sparse crowd greeted Iggy’s opening number “Drift Away”. He followed with “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and Your Body Is A Wonderland”. On all three opening numbers, he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. He’s a wonderful player and that may be his strongest feature, but deservedly so. The Californian musician plays with authority driving the chords through and around each song. No backing tracks, just his guitar and surprisingly, it’s plenty.

Iggy’s voice is good… not great, not bad, but good. He was a little soft at the beginning of his set, but grew stronger as he moved through his repertoire. By the time he launched into Beck’s “Debra”, he was singing with almost as much authority as his guitar playing. He couldn’t match the guitar, but then I doubt any singer could. His voice is strong enough to convey the message and every song was clear and entertaining.

Okay, back to the billing. I’m not quite sure what the hilarious stage presence was all about; perhaps I’ll have to follow up on that one day. Although he was good vocally and musically, I didn’t really see what was so hilarious. Maybe I missed something. No matter, Iggy is still worth seeing. I’ll also have to find out what “Iggy Kings” is all about as well. (I did find out later that his real life name translates to King and he’s an Elvis fan).

Launching in to a Beatles' medley was a highlight for me. With “I’ve Just Seen A Face” and “Get Back”, Iggy showed he could have fun as well as provide it. Somewhere through the stream, his tambourine magically appeared and added to the mix. From that point on, Iggy Rayna stepped things up a notch. He seemed to get livelier and I think with more up tempo songs, he does get better.

And maybe not so surprising, were his original songs. “I Know A Girl” was very good. But more surprising was that he does original Spanish songs. While the English songs were good, the Spanish song knocked me off my feet. Simply amazing.

With a set list that included Peter Cetera and Guns-N-Roses I’m glad I checked out the King. You should too.