Waiting for Victoria

Brad Lindert

After a few years, Victoria has finally followed me to Lawrence. Well, she really didn’t follow me; she is just playing at another coffeehouse that I work at. I first saw Victoria Davitt in (I believe) 1999 at a Green Bay art festival. It was a bunch a bad folk art by middle-aged Wisconsin people who could only paint geese and scenes from Door County.

But in the distance I heard Ani DiFranco, so naturally I gravitated there. Upon my arrival to the source of the music I found that it was a pink-haired girl with a guitar, and no, it wasn’t Ani; it was Victoria.

Now, I must first correct myself. Way back when I was young and naive at 16, I thought that she sounded like Ani, but now I know how to listen to music. And she is not Ani; she is Victoria. They are two different women with two different styles.

Okay, back to the story. So I liked her music and signed up for her e-mail list. Later I received an e-mail and she asked if I knew of any good places where she could play. I replied and said to call the local coffee shop that I almost lived in and later worked at: Culture Caf.

So, she got the gig and played an amazing set. All of my friends fell in love with her; either for her music or because of her looks; both men and women were enamored of this Wisconsin girl.

After the show I bought her CD, Victoria and the Ultra Pink Bicycle Incident, and was sad to find out upon first listen that the CD was more funk rock than the acoustic folk that she played live. But the CD was a great listen and still to this day I enjoy putting it on and hearing “To Be” or “Color Me.”

I think it was last year that she played Culture Caf again and said that she was making a new CD. Well, last year I tried to get her here, but she went to England instead. She’s back now. She has a new CD, Still, and she will be playing the Underground on Friday, Feb. 7 at 9 p.m.

I’ve heard the sound samples and I have heard a lot of these songs live before, such as “For Me.” And I was also happy to find that this was pretty much an acoustical affair compared to her last release.

Now, I only write this article to help you people out there. I have had the pleasure of listening to Victoria since 1999. I’ve seen her live three times, and I own both her first CD and the bedroom electronic pop album she did with Andrew Koss called Thickly Settled.

Most of you have not heard her and I feel you need to. Not just because she is great, but also because this is one of the few people to come to the Underground and play this year.

We’ve had Martin Devaney play, and Zach Johnson finally played yesterday. We have to cherish these infrequent moments of great entertainment.