Holly Miranda Played The Saint w/ Karen Mansfield and Dan Waszay, 6/10/15 (PHOTOS)

Holly Miranda

Asbury Cafe

I toyed with the idea of staying in last night. I'll be headed up to Brooklyn for the next two evenings at least, which means I won't be getting much sleep. The Saint, though, had an intriguing show headlined by Detroit, MI singer / songwriter Holly Miranda. Karen Mansfield and Dan Waszay were also on the bill; so, as I always do, I chose the show over an early night.

The Saint had been decked out with seats for one of their Asbury Cafe evenings. Sitting at the bar, I had a chance to talk with the warm and gracious Ms. Miranda; and, at one point, she mentioned that she played bass in Scarlett Johannsson's Go-Gos-inspired band. I'd remembered hearing something about that before.

Conversations pretty much stopped when Karen Mansfield took the stage. Mansfield had everyone in the small crowd introduce themselves, which was cool. She interspersed her songs with stories, letting us know her inspirations, and delivered everything in her sweetly beautiful voice.

Holly Miranda took the stage at around 9:30. She didn't go acoustic, instead opting for a telecaster and an electric piano. From her first song, all I could think -- and this is meant as no slight to Scarlett Johansson who's as charismatic as they come -- was, "How can this person not front any band that she's in?" Miranda has an amazingly touching voice and engaged the crowd throughout her set.

"Are you guys alive?" she asked at one point, heading over to the piano. "I think I got a few slow claps from people."

*slow clap*

The crowd laughed along with her, and I detected an uptick in enthusiasm from that point.

For "Pelican Rapids" from her latest, self-titled release, Miranda looped backing vocals, a chord progression, and an E-bow for a pretty mesmerizing solo rendition. She closed with current single "All I Want Is to Be Your Girl."

Dan Waszay took the late set. He wore a cowboy hat that he said he found in The Saint's back room. His set mixed originals like "100 mph" and "River" from his self-titled CD with covers by Depeche Mode, Dum Dum Girls, and Elliot Smith. He also used the looper to pretty cool effect on a couple of songs.

I drove home listening to Waszay's CD, and something about it is perfect for late-night solo drives when there's nobody else on the road.

So glad I didn't punk out on this one.

Here are some photo highlights of all three sets. As always, full sets are in the Flickr galleries.

I feel like I need a nap.