Here are a few images from the Felice Brothers at Union South last night. It was a raw and raucous show. This band really gives it their all... Though you wonder how a few of them are going to live through the weekend.... They seem to be involved in some real hard living. My friends Greg and Melissa, who got there during the sound check, said that the bass player spent a good amount of time with his head down on a table before the show.
Their new material works well live (thank for the preview). The highpoint of the show for me was when they transitioned seamlessly from the dance hall section of "Ponzi" into one beat driven verse of of "Take This Bread" before settling into a more standard reading of the rest of "Take This Bread".
It the second photo you can see a large sheet of paper behind the drummer. This turns out to be a set list with the words "Mission Beaver" written in giant letters across the top. We all had a laugh about that when we figured it out.
A word or two about the Sett... It boggles the mind that in this day and age that a university would build what amounts to a giant night club complex, but that seems to be what has happened here in Madison. The Union South was jam packed with students... many studying in the large common areas of the complex, which just 50' away a large crowd was being treated to an excellent rock show. We started on the floor, but wound up later in the balcony just to get a better view. When the show ended the band came up the stairs and exited out a door band the balcony. We exited the same way and immediately found ourselves in a computer lab packed with students studying for finals... and right there was the singer and accordion player chatting up some young ladies (Mission Beaver). It was almost surreal, and most likely totally unlike any back stage experience that the band was used to.
so, thanks to a stellar recommendation via this blog, i went to the felice brothers tonight at the triple rock social club. the triple rock is my favorite venue in the twin cities, so i had to go. if i were to judge a book (band) by that cover (er...band appearance?), man, i'd be wrong. what a motley crew, with a really great sound! it was a fun show to watch-great full sound. a nice surprise for me was the other band- shovels and rope. i knew nothing about them pre-show, and found myself really digging their harmonious, southern, dolly parton meets white stripes thing.
ReplyDeletethis scene was much more bar-ish than the madison venue. one of the few remarks made by the band was 'turn down the lights' 2-3 times. it really wasn't that bright in there.
thanks a ton for the recommendation. that was fun.
I thought the exact same thing about the "hard living" the first time I saw them. I think I actually said something to the effect of, "these guys are gonna be really big soon, as long as they don't drink themselves to death." And that is coming from a professional drinker.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I'm glad you dug the show. We really liked Shovels and Rope too. That woman had a great voice and was infused with rock and roll kavorka. We couldn't tell if she was 16 or 62.
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