JEFF the Brotherhood at Le Poisson Rouge 8/21/11

Throughout the decade, the garage rock revival of the post-punk era has not necessarily lasted on the mainstream level it was on in the early days of the Strokes and White Stripes, but that does not mean that garage rock has died.  There are still many, many bands that have been making ripples since the early 2000s; you just need to seek them out.

JEFF the Brotherhood is a prime example of a garage rock band to seek out.  They are a two-piece band composed of a guitar player and drummer, and actually are brothers (though neither is named Jeff).  Jack White is a supporter of this band, as he has been known to speak highly about them, and has recruited them to be the opening act of the Raconteurs comeback show this September in Nashville, where the duo is based.

They took the stage on Sunday night at the Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker Street as the third of four bands that night. Le Poisson Rouge is a small venue, where you are guided downstairs and to a basement stage area.  The small room was mostly filled, but still easy to maneuver around, and virtually anywhere you stand would give you a good view of the stage.

JEFF the Brotherhood came out and played with a lot of energy.  The brothers looked like they came right out of the 1970s, and played with grit and power to display their dominant garage rock sound.  The guitar player came into the crowd multiple times, and they really got the already rowdy crowd jumping.  Unfortunately, the other bands didn’t seem like good fits to compliment the JEFF the Brotherhood sound.  The other bands were more metal sounding, and included a lot more screaming rather than singing, and a lot of the fans that night seemed to be there for that sort of sound. However, those bands still played with a lot of energy themselves, and got the crowd worked up, and the crowd stayed that way through JEFF the Brotherhood’s set.  It was probably a lot more rowdy of a show than other JEFF the Brotherhood shows might be, especially up close to the stage where there was a lot of pushing, beer spraying, and even some crowd surfing, which all allowed a good time for those involved.  However, if you didn’t want to be shoved and sprayed with beer, the back of the room was still tame, and wasn’t that far away from the stage.

JEFF the Brotherhood isn’t a band that you are going discover on MTV, or even listening to the radio, though their last two albums have achieved more exposure than the group started out with as a high school band in 2002.  However, they have been covered by several magazine and music websites, including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Paste, and Spin magazine, which named the group one of the best tours of this past spring.  They are one of the bands that you might be inclined to pass over when you see their name at the top of an article since you don’t hear about them on the radio or tv, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth checking out whether they are attached to a bigger name like the Raconteurs, or playing in a small New York City venue.


-JKS

Key songs by JEFF the Brotherhood: 
"Diamond Way" 
JEFF The Brotherhood - 'Diamond Way' by SpunkRecords
and "The Tropics" 
The Tropics by JEFF the Brotherhood by infinitycatrecordings


(an original photograph by J.S.)

(an original photograph by J.S.)

Bob Dylan at Jones Beach 8/13/2011

 To some people Bob Dylan is that guy who plays the harmonica and sings the “Mr. Tambourine Man” song, “which, did you know, is about drugs,” they will proudly say to sound hip as they think back on the days when “Like a Rolling Stone” dominated the airwaves.  To others, he is not just any musician, but one of the best ever; a man of many voices who has layers of music to peel away and rediscover again.  At Jones Beach both kinds of people would have found his performance enjoyable, and both kinds of people were there.

Some people may assume that at this stage of his never-ending tour, his voice is too shot, and he is too old to put on a good performance.  However, his voice was far from being the issue during the show, rather it was the fans that were there just to see Bob Dylan, the man who plays harmonica and sings those songs off his greatest hits album.  In fact, most of the crowd was stiff and horrible, and drained of energy.  The most emotion that a large amount of them showed was viciously telling other people to sit down, while others applauded every time a stander gave in. 

We had to move up several times because we weren't about to sit down and watch the show awkwardly twiddling our thumbs around. We would had been content where our regular seats were, but we didn’t mind moving up, it's just the fashion in which we had to do so; it was like we were being run out of town like dirty crooks or something. We even took the liberty of seeking areas where there were several empty rows directly behind us, but that didn’t matter to the sit-down-police far behind us, who seemed to want us to sit down out of the principal of it.  We finally found the only four people who were really dancing up a storm, and stood behind them. Eventually a small handful of others joined our little pocket of standers, and then most of the crowd stood for “Like a Rolling Stone” and “All Along the Watchtower.”  Typical. “Highway 61” and “Thunder on the Mountain,” which the band put some real good energy into didn't even draw too many people to their feet. The people who had been yelling, "sit down you wankers" never made it to their feet at all. It was as though they showed up expecting to watch a Broadway play or orchestral performance.  We had NEVER seen such a outrage made against people standing up during a concert, but the dancing people in front of us, and others that have seen Bob Dylan before have assured us since that this is a problem they have run into before at his past concerts.

The venue is beautiful, right on the water, and the night was an ideal temperature, but the fact that the venue doesn’t sell booze only added to the stiffness of the crowd, most of who seemed to be looking for something to complain about.  Perhaps somewhere such as Terminal 5, where Dylan played a sold out show back in November, would be a better place to see him as it caters to a standing crowd.

Dylan came out with his six-piece band, him being on the keyboard and harmonica, and began and ended the main set with songs commonly played during the famous electric sets of his 1966 tour with “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” and “Ballad of a Thin Man” respectably.  The band started with good energy, and retained it through the whole show, including some great improvisational jams.

Along with the crowd-pleasers, he also played some early classics such as “To Ramona,” “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” and “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.”  He did an interesting rendition “Tangled Up in Blue,” which had a different pace than its studio version, and other released live versions.  He included a nice bittersweet version of “Simple Twist of Fate,” and played several newer songs off three of his well-regarded albums released between 1997 and 2009.  In all he did fifteen songs, a small handful of which he has been consistently playing during this leg of his tour.  However, he has a long repertoire of songs, and has been taking advantage of that, and can easily surprise you with a personal favorite that you may not expect him to play.  While at some times it helped to know the lyrics to his songs, we agreed that both he and his backing band sounded much better then when we previously saw him in 2006 and 2007, and he still pulls out harmonica solos that will amaze you, and keep you wondering how he has enough breath to do so.

The bottom line is that Dylan is still going at it, and still worth seeing.  After all, he is a living legend that is giving us the opportunity to see him on a yearly basis.  While every now and then he might have an off night, it really is the potential for a stiff crowd to be warned about.

-JKS

(an original photograph by J.S.)

The Kills at Terminal 5 8/8/2011 and 8/9/2011

“The Kills killed it!” is a phrase that may have sounded cliché to the many satisfied fans walking out of Terminal 5, but it is a phrase that cannot be argued.  After selling out Terminal 5 on a Friday night back in April well before the day of the show, the Kills returned to New York on their increasingly long tour supporting their newest album Blood Pressures.

This time around, The Kills made their stay in New York longer, playing Monday and Tuesday nights at Terminal 5, while making an appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show in between.  I was present for all three events, and still find myself wanting more.

The song order didn’t change much between the two nights, but the shows they put on didn’t make that regrettable.  The Kills are only a two-person band, but have a far more powerful and explosive sound than you would imagine.  Jamie stays cool and confident, as he controls the drum-machine and plays guitar riffs that force you to move your head up and down.  Meanwhile, Alison moves around the stage in a mesmerizing manner, putting pure emotion into every word she sings.  At times, she moves with the seduction of a ghost, disappearing during a split second of blackness before reappearing across the stage during the next blast of light.  At other times, she would stand up on a barrier at the edge of the stage, silhouetted by the lights behind her for the fans to look up and admire her from ground level.  They were loud and powerful, but not in an overwhelming or distorted kind of way.  Despite playing so well and moving the crowd, Alison humbly said “thank you” to the audience after most songs, when in fact, the audience should have been thanking them.

Most of the songs they played were off of their latest two albums, Blood Pressures, and Midnight Boom, but they also opened both shows with the title song from their second album, No Wow, and played a couple of songs off their first album, Keep On Your Mean Side.  They also included a chilling cover of Marilyn Monroe’s “One More Silver Dollar.”  They started their encores off with “The Last Goodbye,” a slow and absolutely beautiful song, before exploding into three more songs.

It took a while for The Kills to come on stage, as they had two opening bands, and then an introduction by the Irish broadcaster/author BP Fallon, who performed his Third Man Records single release, which got the crowd fired up as The Kills came on right after him.  Joan Jett was in the VIP crowd both nights, as was Alexander Skarsgard of True Blood and Kirsten Dunst the first night.  Kate Moss, who recently married Jamie in the midst of The Kills tour, did not seem to be in the audience. 

When The Kills played on the set of Jimmy Fallon late Tuesday afternoon, it was a completely different environment; but they stuck to their game.  I was fortunate enough to watch them from the "band bench" platform on the side of the stage above Jamie, where I had a great view of the duo.  Alison was just as much in the zone as she was during the Terminal 5 shows, spinning on stage and moving her body to Jamie’s excellent riffs.  She also picked up a guitar herself for three songs each night at Terminal 5. 

Having seen The Kills play both from close up and further from the stage, I would recommend trying to get as close to the stage as possible if you can bear the tight crowd.  This band has really found its sound, and is so mesmerizing to watch live.  With all the effort they put into their shows, they deserve to be seen.


*** The Kills will be abroad for the rest of August before returning to North America in September for shows in Washington, Vancouver, Oregon, and California.  They will be abroad again during November, but keep an eye out for added shows in your area.


-JKS


(an original photograph by J.S.)
Check out their opening song "No Wow" (8/8/11)

Coming Soon

The Kills 8/8/2011 @ Terminal 5

Bob Dylan 8/13/2011 @ Jones Beach