July 12, 1999
Doane sizzles!

CALGARY -- Melanie Doane is a woman with a fiddle, but don't jump to any conclusions.

She is no sweetheart of the rodeo and, despite hailing from Nova Scotia, she is no Celtic sprite either.

Pop-rock is her thing, and judging from her show last night at the Coca-Cola Stage, she plays it with plenty of passion and panache.

Lithe and alluring in a blue tank top and leather pants, Doane and her five-piece band -- last seen in Calgary this spring, opening for the Philosopher Kings -- spiced up their melodic, guitar-based pop with the occasional drum loop and fiddle solo.

Listen even more closely and you would hear lyrics that neatly untangled the intricacies of male-female relationships.

Alas, the drum loops -- superfluous and seemingly superimposed on the music to begin with -- were mixed so loud on songs such as Waiting For The Tide that you couldn't make out what Doane was singing.

But as There Is No Beautiful and Absolutely Happy demonstrated, Doane is at her best and most distinctive when her fiddle is jostling with the electric and acoustic guitars for dominance in the mix.

Amy Sky, a last-minute substitution for Deborah Cox, plays the Coca-Cola stage tonight at 8:30 p.m.