SHOW OF THE MONTH

Goosepimp Orchestra / Lowercase p
At the Lily Pad

Cambridge, MA

March 15, 2008

As has been the case since the Lily Pad opened up in their Inman Square location, loud shows like tonight’s tend to draw vocal criticism from the neighbors telling them to turn that racket down. “Lets just meditate for five minutes,” said Brandon Downs, bass player of Lowercase P with dead seriousness to the crowd.

Soon after getting the OK to start up again, Lowercase P, including Gabriel Cruser on drums and Phil Reese on keyboards, were at it again. Bringing back a slowly rising groove, the band managed to work the music to a peak and finally unleashed it on the eager crowd.

Lowercase P, a keyboard driven funk trio in the vein of the New Deal with a dash of Medeski, Martin and Wood, hail from Lowell, where they’ve honed a hippie, dance friendly show, playing for the multitudes of U-Mass students looking for a good time.
Reese, donning a plastic Viking hat, huge circular black glasses and a never ending smile, silently communed with his drummer and bass player as they seamlessly jammed through songs like set staple “Mill City Songo,” and the Heart cover “Magic Man” (a crowd favorite.)

Behind a few keyboards and at least two Moog pedals, Reese appeared as a mad scientist dropping in melodic chemical ingredients into a delightfully toxic brew.
Rifling through a bounce packed set, LP closed with a cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Aeroplane,” setting the stage for the Latin, funk bombast of the Goosepimp Orchestra.

After a year of shows and the release of their EP Hit It and Quit It, the GPO has honed their act, milking every ounce of positive energy driving from their instruments and bashing the audience over the head with it. Since they formed in 2004, the group has gone through many lineups, but with the fairly recent additions of trombonist Josh Filgate and trumpeter John Albertele, their musical punch is more potent.
Calling out a count to “Palabra,” Cantor’s eyes lit up in anticipation, as the horns blared jazz bombastic hits to start of the song.

Backed by Dave Pelletier’s Latin bass groove, Bob Greel’s percussion and the steady yet firm drumming of Joe Calabrese, Goosepimp settled into a tight groove, moving the audience to swing wildly to the music.

Behind the group’s Latin, psychedelic funk are the masterminds of the GPO, longtime friends Greel and Cantor, who traded lines back and forth throughout the night as if in a frantic rush to tell each other a bent melody story.
Greel’s Latin roots shone through as did his many years on the jazz circuit playing with his father, while Cantor’s past metal life, pushed through its way through via absurdist guitar licks.

Firing through a smaller set, songs like “(You’re Never Too Young To Have Vietnam) Flashbacks”, “Obiatchuaries” and “Chenopods (Bong Rips Through Baghdad)” moved the crowd into a frantic sweat.

“Forinho Magico,” a Cantor tune he penned while in Spain, killed. With a funky circus like chorus and almost out of time verse, the song was a great example of how the GPO likes to keep it’s audience lively, smattering them with off kilter melodies, only to bring them back into the sweet funky fray.

Like a hit of music to your brain, you don’t know what you’re listening to until you’re dancing to it. By looking at the each of the band members, it was clear they were getting as much out of the performance as anyone else in the room.

-Review and photo by Dana Forsythe

Eat FlamingDeath / John Voigt with video by Walter Wright
Brookline Tai Chi

Brookline, MA

March 28, 2008

A Friday night of experimental music at Brookline Tai Chi opened up with the group Eat Flaming Death. Despite the hardcore title, this trio approached the stand demurely, but the music they made still featured nothing conventional. While it wasn’t outright honking dissonance, it totally eschewed melody and form, instead using space and effects to form a kind of sonic tapestry.

Vocalist Noell Dorsey used everything from tremulous whispers to vibrato-laden chants, while Joshua Jefferson used mutes in his alto saxophone and employed a bass clarinet to create a variety of sound effects, frequently hinting at traditional Eastern melodies. Meanwhile, drummer Andrew Eisenberg busied himself with wringing disembodied sounds from his drum kit, even going so far as to lift a drum stand and bang on it to create an eerie, gonglike sound.

This was not music for the narrow-minded listener — someone with anything less than a completely open mind might justifiably question the definition of the term “music.” But there was clearly a dialogue between players, which made for an intriguing experience, even if the actual nature of the art was sometimes unclear.

The second act promised to be a mixture of music and performance art. Bassist John Voigt, a well-established veteran on the avant-garde jazz scene both in Boston and New York, had put together a three part program honoring the work of the legendary big band leader and experimental composer Sun Ra, a man so bizarre that he claimed he had been born on Saturn and sent to the Earth as punishment.

Before beginning the concert, John Voigt warned the audience that the music they were about to experience might not be for everyone. But at the same time, he said, “After tonight, you will know where to look.” He then proceeded to read “Music of the Spheres,” one of Sun Ra’s many poems and pointed out that this poem was significant because the sounds he was working with would come from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which was orbiting directly overhead on this Friday night.

The first act then began with the playing of radio signals emitted by the moon, dropped 44 octaves, and then led to Voigt engaging the signals on bass in a form of a cosmic duet. Using a Carruthers electric upright bass, Voigt first moved around the room, seemingly searching out the best location to line up with the extraterrestrial vibrations. Then he used both fingers along with his bow to create soft strings of electric notes that rang out against the sweeping backdrops created by the bizarre ebb and flow of the moon’s radio signals.

Rocking back and forth, Voight then used his bass to build up a sort of frenzied speech with the signal, even using an effects pedal to heighten the otherworldly pitches before setting the instrument down and letting the signal effectively serve as the end of the music.

As the signal died out, Voigt began to read more of Ra’s poetry, including pieces such as “The Outer Darkness,” “The Outer Beyond,” and “Imagination.” These poems were accompanied by silent movies of Sun Ra and his Arkestra projected on one wall of the studio. Soon he picked up his bass and began to punctuate the words with the instrument. At one point, Voigt encouraged the audience to chant with him the words of the poem: “Omni, alter, outerway.”

The night concluded with the showing of a video of Sun Ra live in performance, filmed in the ‘70s by video artist Walter Wright, who was also in attendance. The film was interesting, mixing double exposures and negative shots while presenting high quality footage of an immensely talented performer, but more live music from Voigt might have been a better way to close everything out. A promised interactive dance number never occurred, perhaps disappointing a crowd of only seven in attendance by the very end. All in all, this was a concert that was adventurous, full of experimentation, and rich with possibility that wasn’t always fulfilled.

-Review by Warren Allen

The Felice Brothers
TheSoapbox

Wilmington, NC

March 5th, 2008

In a warmly raucous way, The Felice Brothers have made a living room out of the Soapbox stage. The band chose not to occupy the whole stage but ignore it, positioning themselves at the front edge with drummer Simone Felice on the left, telling the crowd to “come in close, get up here.”

The evening felt like a homecoming party, with interactions of players and listeners as if in a family room telling stories. James Felice stood front and center with his accordion and wide brimmed black hat. He lifted a bottle of whiskey over his head and summarily passed it around.

Simone was the band’s energy. Hitting the drums fiercely (almost hard enough to break), he stood tall on the seat, towering over everything and entered the crowd’s space. The bass drum had Time Magazine’s Vladimir Putin “Man of the Year” cover taped to the front.

“My uncle used to tell us stories about murder and crime in Queens growing up,” lead singer Ian Felice explained casually into the microphone. “[He] used to scare the shit out of me,” he added.

The lengthy set, ranging from sentimental (“Ruby Mae”) to funky (“Radio Song”) to carnival-esque, (“Frankie’s Gun”, “Greatest Show on Earth”), were all draped in acoustic soul. During the set, Ian Felice hunched over the microphone, singing songs like an old man telling stories he’s told so many times before. His voice was equally seasoned and soulful, graveled and sweet. James switched from accordion to keyboard and the empty bottle of whiskey appeared thrown nonchalantly under his feet.

Songs were introduced as stories passed down to the brothers, most notably with phrases like, “Wanna hear one about a boxer who gets killed in the ring?” or “This is a song about scumbags trying to earn enough money to support their kids.”
Mid-set, the band slowed things down with the moving “Wonderful Life,” a song Simone introduced as “about playing on the road, getting hurt, falling in love.” Ian sang it gently and proud, echoing pain while eerily channeling Bob Dylan, and The Band. Playing songs about experiences in love and pain, the band captured the wear and tear of life.

Near the end of the show, a young girl spoke to Ian and he learned it’s her birthday as Simone remarked to the crowd, “We’ve been singing all these songs about sex and murder so we’re gonna sing a church song.”

Ian then invited the birthday girl onstage. “C’mon, birthday girl,” he said coolly. Soon the whole stage behind the band is filled with folks from the crowd as the band plays “Glory, Glory.”

-Review and photo by Brian Tucker

Jonathan Richman/Vic Chesnutt
Middle East Upstairs

Cambridge, MA

March 6, 2008

Jonathan Richman fans, both young and old, packed into the tiny and intimate Middle East Upstairs for a mesmerizing show by the former Modern Lovers front man Richman performed tracks from his first new album in three years, Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild and classic tracks that have become staples of not only the quirky troubadour’s repertoire, but also the entire proto-punk scene that he helped shape throughout the ‘70s.

Accompanied only by longtime percussionist Tommy Larkins, Richman kept the mood light and spontaneous at the first of two sold-out shows at the Middle East, playing only a classical guitar and singing a song or two in several different languages (English, French, Italian and Spanish). Though Richman has a bit of a cult following, the audience was a melting pot of people. Older fans shared stories of seeing Richman in the early days while younger fans tried to play it like old hands at seeing Richman, and tried not to get too excited as the legend performed “Pablo Picasso.”

Richman’s songs have long been structured on a love for the good ol’ days. An obvious example of this is the classic Modern Lovers-era cut “Old World,” which took on a new meaning from the now 56-year-old performer. Singing about an ever-changing world and wanting to hang on to it while still trying to embrace the change is not something Richman has ever done, or at least, not artistically. His music has always been on his own terms. Writing and performing songs about artists Vermeer, Van Gogh, Picasso and Cézanne isn’t exactly calling out for the public to take notice. While the world may have been moving on outside the club’s walls, time was standing still as Richman stood at the end of the stage, hands on his heart, “dignified and old.”

-Review and photo by Nick Stefanovich

Matt White / Zox
Harper’s Ferry

Allston, MA

January 29, 2008

At Harper’s Ferry, opener Matt White played a few average acoustic singer/songwriter tunes with a single guitar, but grabbed the crowds’ interest when he switched over to the piano. White charmed the women in the crowd with his looks and seductive stage persona, but struggled to gain the attention of everyone. To remedy this, he played an unnecessary cover of Tom Petty’s anthemic “Free Fallin’.” White’s performance was upbeat and fun at first, but his band seemed stiff and lacked chemistry as White was the only one who seemed enthused about the performance.

An hour and a half (and a few “Yankees suck” chants) later, Zox immediately made the audience forget about the lateness of their set as they slipped into “Spades,” followed by crowd favorites “Everything But Fine” and “A Little More Time.” It was surprising to hear them play a plethora of older tunes since they recently released a brand new collection, Line In the Sand.

Zox sounded a lot like their studio recordings, but retained an upbeat feel and entertaining stage presence. Given the band’s long history, seeing them laugh at some of their earlier lyrics, which resembled high school love songs, was refreshing. Zox’s comfort onstage was evident as the members interacted freely, each one coming to the center for a solo at different times. The band had two milk crates that they would stand on during solos or to get the crowd more excited about a certain song. Violinist Spencer Swain and drummer John Zox controlled the energy through their unique intensity. The remaining band members lightened the mood with their laughable gimmicks and dancing.

As the show went on, Zox eventually made their way to floor level, dancing in the crowd. Lead singer Eli Miller stepped down first and was later accompanied by the rest of the band.

After a generous encore of a very solid performance, Zox puts on an incredible show for an affordable price.

-Review and photo by Mike Shea

The Starline Rhythm Boys
Lincoln Inn

Essex, VT

March 22, 2008

The Starline Rhythm Boys played a dynamic set at a cozy listening room at the Lincoln Inn in Essex, Vt. Dressed in Western-style collared shirts and bolo ties, Bill Bratcher (upright bass), Al Lemery (electric guitar), and Danny Coane (acoustic guitar) filled the room with rockabilly twists on old favorites and a few of their own amazing originals. Even during the slower songs, the band, which recently topped the FAR (Freeform American Roots) charts, never lost energy and their vigor radiated into the audience.
Couples gathered to the wooden dance floor as soon as the Boys started their set with a respectful rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Sweet Dreams Baby.” Bratcher and Coane seemed to have conversations between their instruments. Bratcher’s bouncy, quick thumping bass beats glided along with Coane and Lemery’s surprisingly gentle harmonies. Coane’s voice warbled in an almost half-yodel that held comparable traces to Elvis. Lemery’s voice had a concentrated yet soft sound that complimented the sharp twang of Coane’s. Coane suggested to Bratcher over the microphone that they should “play something [the crowd] could frame” and at once they jumped into a fast-paced, whiskey-sippin’ tune that could only be an original. “Honkey Tonk Livin’,” from the album of the same title, got most of the crowd onto the floor. Bratcher and Coane seemed to be lightheartedly dueling with their instruments when they presented their own version of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day”. Coane had such control over his distinctive, deep voice it was hard to picture the song as a tribute over the bluesy, rootsy spin the Boys put on it.

Coane sang the leads on most songs but listening to Lemery sing his own song, “Come Up Smiling”, was a delight, and was lively but reserved, reminiscent of an Everly Brothers tune.

The rest of the night included Carl Perkins’s happy-go-lucky hit “Tiger by the Tail”, the somberness of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” Their variation of these classic songs were not strict copies, but unique adaptations streamed through the strings of the Boys’ instruments and released into the warm, wooden Lincoln Inn teetering on the northwestern tip of Vermont.

-Review and photo by Meghan Chiampa