Did you ever wonder what side of the line a certain family’s politics fall on? I mean, brotherly advice can range from: “Where did you find Jesus?” to “Where can I bury this hooker?” The Felice Brothers kinda walk a tightrope down the middle on that one. So who are these fellas? Well, just like the band name says, three members of the group are from the family Felice: Ian takes lead vocal duties (sounding a bit like Bob Dylan - but with more clarity) and plays guitar, James (Jimmy) plays the accordion and lends a hand on vocals, while Simone plays drums and fills out the vocal roster. (Of note: though Ian plays lead, all three look equally at home on the mic.) The brothers are accompanied by Christmas on bass and Farley on fiddle and washboard. They hail from the Catskills in New York, and their musical journey started by playing in New York City Subway stations. While they only have one major label release in the US (the self-titled Felice Brothers), they have an import album from the UK (Tonight At The Arizona) and a disc that they recorded themselves (reportedly in a chicken coop – what a perfect image – it’s called Adventures Of The Felice Brothers Vol. 1) that’s only available at the live shows. And that’s not counting their original indie debut, Through These Reins and Gone. So there’s no lack of material to choose from…When I got in to the show, the whole downstairs had been opened up by removing all the tables – and it’s a good thing, because the place was jam-packed, even with the balcony open. When the guys took the stage, I thought how amazing it is that this unassuming looking bunch of characters can produce such a raucous sound. A lot of bands will wear their Sunday best to try to look “professional” – thankfully, this band isn’t in that pretentious crowd. T-shirts, plaids and jeans all around, thank you, with James wearing his trademark wide-brimmed hat. Scruffy and scraggly all, they were picture-perfect for this rowdy evening of Americana.
And right from the get-go, we got the feel for how these guys like to party when they gave the intro to “Ruby Mae” – “This one’s about the murder of a stripper in New York City” - a lovely ditty, punctuated by Simone’s pantomime of a cabaret dance while he stood atop his drum kit. This segued easily into “Where’d You Get The Liquor”, a song that proved to be one of the big three topics for the brothers Felice: booze, guns and Jesus – all three inspire a different sense of devotion, but these guys may be the only ones to squeeze them all together for one deliciously confusing evening.
During their 21-song set, the boys took us on a roller coaster ride. The boys regaled us with tales of sin like “Whiskey In My Whiskey” (sung by Jimmy and Simone) ending in a call-and-response kind of volley that left your head spinning like a good glass of Jack. Or perhaps you like your breed of sin to have a slightly more feminine allure? Well, “White Limousine” (a new song) might have the cure for that – it’s the tale of a lady who picked up the band after their bus had broken down in Ohio. In that white limo, she showed the guys how they put the “Sin in Cincinnati”.
Or maybe you were looking to hear some cover songs? No, these guys aren’t likely to break into a round of “Mony Mony” – but if you wanted to hear some songs about influenza or the Lord? They had you covered. Examples, you say? Well, their upbeat version of Elder Curry’s “Memphis Flu” almost had you wishing for hospital whites. “Saved” (an Elvis tune, also done by The Band) was one of the most animated songs – featuring a face-off between the washboard and drums while Ian danced side to side like a marionette with a drunken puppeteer. During “Lord, Send Me An Angel” (Blind Willie Mctell), there were the requisite band intros – and then the ladies in the crowd swooned as Simone went shirtless. Then the boys got a chuckle, too, as Simone kneeled in “prayer” by Ian, only to be knocked over by his brother – these fellas are true showmen.
Also of note during the set was another new tune called “Run Chicken Run”, and of course the “last song” was “Frankie’s Gun”, the huge radio single. Of course, last songs just lead to encores – which led to another four savory bits. At first, Ian came back solo for “Saint Stephen’s End”, but he was rejoined for “Two Hands”, a Townes Van Zandt tune. This may have been the pinnacle energy for the evening’s festivities, and Simone had appropriately introduced the song by saying we were in the Midnight Church Of Sin. At the fever pitch of the song, Ian was up on the drum kit kicking cymbals, Christmas was standing on one of the amps and Farley was clapping so hard that you really believed you might “dance through heaven’s door”. Hallelujah Brothers! And thank you for the best night out Northampton’s seen in a while!
For more info and tour dates, check out the band's MySpace page here and check out a great fan site called Hey Hey Revolver here.
For those of you looking for a full set list, here it is - thanks to the anonymous contributer for filling in song #11 for me:
1. Ruby Mae
2. Where’d You Get The Liquor?
3. Cypress Grove (by Skip James)
4. Whiskey In My Whiskey
5. Mercy/Christmas Song
6. White Limousine (Cincinnati Queen)
7. Her Eyes Dart Round
8. Memphis Flu (by Elder Curry)
9. Murder By Mistletoe
10. Saved (by Leiber & Stoller/Elvis/The Band)
11. Goddamn You, Jim
12. Run Chicken Run
13. Hey Hey Revolver
14. Radio Song
15. Lord, Send Me An Angel (by Blind Willie Mctell)
16. Helen Fry
17. Frankie’s Gun
Encore Set
18. Saint Stephen’s End
19. Two Hands (by Townes Van Zandt)
20. The Devil Is Real
21. Glory Glory (traditional)
No comments:
Post a Comment