LIVE REVIEW: Carina Round @ Cafe du Nord, SF 5/8/12

If Carina Round‘s not the hardest working woman in the music business these days, she’s pretty damn close, and she’s no rookie in the game, either. A touring member of Maynard’s Puscifer, the UK-bred Round has been putting out records and touring the world for nearly a decade on her own. Though Round’s latest self-released album, Tigermending had only hit stores a week prior to her show at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco (her second performance of the day after an earlier solo appearance at an Apple store), it became clear that her album had already struck a chord with this audience as nearly everyone seemed to know the songs. In an unexpected unison, the whole room joined in singing the “do do do’s” to “You and Me,” as Round cooed, “Ohh, San Francisco,” clearly taking the crowd’s response to heart.

It’s rare to find an artist whose vocals are as crisp and true to the recorded album as Carina Round‘s. If we hadn’t seen her perform before our very eyes, we might question whether she’d just lip-synced the whole performance. She has clearly done this a few thousand times or more, as have her impressive bandmates like bass player Matt McJunkins and drummer Jeff Friedl, who also tours with Puscifer.

And the true sign of a total pro? When the vocals cut out during her latest single “The Last Time,” Round didn’t skip a beat. Grabbing McJunkins’ mic, Round belted out the chorus like nothing had happened. “That was gangster!” McJunkins proclaimed as everyone cheered. It’s not the first word we’d use to describe Carina Round: badass, extraordinary, and captivating all come to mind, but we couldn’t agree more.

Want Carina Round to play in your town? Leave a “tip” on her website at CarinaRound.com and help her gather the funds to continue her tour! There may be a limited edition clear vinyl album available for you, if you’re lucky.

Check out even more badass photos here!

All photos by: Mike Rosati