Being a relative newcomer to the Taiwan music scene, I had no idea who Scott Cook was, other than what I had read online. I knew that he had played locally for several years, and that he later went back to Canada to embark on his solo career. So before the show started, I had relatively no idea what to expect.
David Chen gave a nice little introduction before the start of the set, and that added a little more information. Talented musician, went solo and started touring Canada and the U.S. Lives in his minivan as he drives about performing at different places. Overall, sounded like a pretty chill dude who apparently sings purdy darned good.
When Scott took to the stage, my initial reaction was, “OMG its Seth Rogen!” Of course, it wasn’t Rogen, but Cook bears a resemblance to the actor. And then he opened his mouth and started talking. Again I thought, “OMG it really is Seth Rogen.” He did kinda sound like him, if only with a lot less California frat boy in timbre.
He started off just playing by himself; a guitar and vocals, doesn’t get much simpler than that. The songs were all new to me, of course, but they were all quite pleasant and had a solidity that reflected the polish they had from numerous performances. He even played a few songs written by others that fit his overall style, and honestly if he hadn’t said anything I wouldn’t have noticed they weren’t his. In general, the songwriting was pretty witty, and the underlining theme and feeling was one of joviality and freedom through the experiences of life.
Later on the “band” took to the stage; David Chen on guitar, Conor Prunty on harmonica and Thom Squires on bass (thanks Scott for the info!). With more or less a full ensemble, Cook’s music took on even more life and the crowd loved it. Speaking of the audience, Scott’s rapport with them was excellent. I don’t know if it was due in part to familiarity or because of charisma, but the energy in the room was great on both sides of the performance.
Overall it was a great show that lasted through a couple of encores. Afterwards, Scott got off stage and got around to pitching his new album, which was on sale and available for autographing… It’s apparently available on his website and I highly encourage buying it. Aside from getting great music, it’s really important that we all support independent artists. Along with us lowly photographers, musicians have a lot of competition to turn a profit and every bit of help counts when one’s trying to make a living from the arts.