Material: The State Social House in Hollywood is a smallish, low-ceilinged, open-raftered room with a slightly bigger-than-a-postage-stamp stage and a very happy bar. A tough venue for the young California-based alternative trio, Ramekega, but they commanded the room’s attention and delivered a strong performance on a busy Friday night.
Musicianship: The three women onstage (Filipina sisters Kelli, Gabrielle and Karia) provided an eight-song set that made good use of their harmonizing voices, with verses led by Kelli and choruses featuring the higher register of drummer Gabrielle.
Although the group has been together in various forms since 2007, they still retain their emerging sound in songs like “Normalcy” or “Bad at Missing You.” “Wait There’s More” stood out precisely because it didn’t sound studio-modulated.
Performance: This show at the State Social House and later performances at The Surfside and the Boathouse Collective focused on a narrow range of countryish, harmonic, lighter rock built around Kelli’s big guitar strumming and the three women’s harmony in choruses. The result is a show that is technically very good, but somewhat flat—entertaining, but without much sonic variation.
Summary: The addition of one or two more instruments, or looping and samples through an onstage laptop, would give Ramekega a degree of richness that similar harmonic bands, such as The Marias, are able to accomplish. But regardless of the challenges posed by any venue, Ramekega’s performance at the State Social House demonstrated that this trio has what it takes to keep an audience engaged and feeling good.
Contact: [email protected]
Web: ramekega.com
Players: Kelli Pozon, rhythm guitar, keyboards,
vocals; Gabrielle Pozon, drums, percussion, vocals; Kaira Pozon, bass, vocals.
