The Felice Brothers at Shepherd's Bush Empire
The Felice Brothers
A.A. Bondy
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 22 October 2009
Well, I'm glad I got to see Mr Bondy perform in a small club last night because supporting his friends The Felice Brothers, like a lot of support acts, he had to contend with an audience more interested in chatting to each other and drinking beer. Still, he was an old pro, once again backed by just a bass and drums, he sweetly sang There's A Reason and turned up the amps for a rocking Killed Myself When I Was Young and finally borrowed The Felice Brothers' violin player for a rollicking When The Devil's Loose. Those chatting audience members don't know what a good thing they missed.
Thankfully for The Felice Brothers, the crowd was eager for some music by the time they hit the stage and, even if they weren't, their music and energy is so rousing it would be hard to not to be drawn in, because it's a joyous affair, like a little secret hoedown going on in the middle of London. Singer/guitarist Ian Felice looked skinny and lot younger than I expected, wearing an over-sized white t-shirt (which probably exaggerated the look), in complete contrast to his big-boned brother James (on the keyboards and accordion, and rocking a great black cowboy hat), but both were hugely enthusiastic, along with cool bassist Christmas and the hyper-active violinist Farley (whose specialty appeared to be throwing beer over the audience unfortunately), bouncing around the stage and throwing themselves into playing their instruments and singing. Introduced as "my best friend" by Ian, A.A. Bondy (who apparently is married to Felice sister Clare) also joined the band for most of the set playing guitar and looked like he was part of the band, jamming along and sharing jokes with the various members, which was nice to see.
It was a long, nice set, with the highlights being a celebratory Whiskey In My Whiskey, which felt like an old Cajun number filled with joyful accordion and lots of audience singalongs, and the eerie Helen Fry, which steadily built in intensity and saw Ian Felice do several laps around the stage between verses. It's no doubt been mentioned before that Ian sounds like a nasally Bob Dylan, but more than that The Felice Brothers' live show also has a feel of Dylan's most famous backing players, The Band, albeit one infused with Cajun and old time country music.
The encore was equally robust and rowdy, with a fine rendition of Townes Van Zandt's Two Hands (who everyone seems to be covering these days - not that I'm complaining mind you) and a last minute addition of the fun Run Chicken Run, from their new album Yonder Is The Clock.
A glorious night indeed and highly recommended.
A.A. Bondy
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 22 October 2009
Well, I'm glad I got to see Mr Bondy perform in a small club last night because supporting his friends The Felice Brothers, like a lot of support acts, he had to contend with an audience more interested in chatting to each other and drinking beer. Still, he was an old pro, once again backed by just a bass and drums, he sweetly sang There's A Reason and turned up the amps for a rocking Killed Myself When I Was Young and finally borrowed The Felice Brothers' violin player for a rollicking When The Devil's Loose. Those chatting audience members don't know what a good thing they missed.
Thankfully for The Felice Brothers, the crowd was eager for some music by the time they hit the stage and, even if they weren't, their music and energy is so rousing it would be hard to not to be drawn in, because it's a joyous affair, like a little secret hoedown going on in the middle of London. Singer/guitarist Ian Felice looked skinny and lot younger than I expected, wearing an over-sized white t-shirt (which probably exaggerated the look), in complete contrast to his big-boned brother James (on the keyboards and accordion, and rocking a great black cowboy hat), but both were hugely enthusiastic, along with cool bassist Christmas and the hyper-active violinist Farley (whose specialty appeared to be throwing beer over the audience unfortunately), bouncing around the stage and throwing themselves into playing their instruments and singing. Introduced as "my best friend" by Ian, A.A. Bondy (who apparently is married to Felice sister Clare) also joined the band for most of the set playing guitar and looked like he was part of the band, jamming along and sharing jokes with the various members, which was nice to see.
It was a long, nice set, with the highlights being a celebratory Whiskey In My Whiskey, which felt like an old Cajun number filled with joyful accordion and lots of audience singalongs, and the eerie Helen Fry, which steadily built in intensity and saw Ian Felice do several laps around the stage between verses. It's no doubt been mentioned before that Ian sounds like a nasally Bob Dylan, but more than that The Felice Brothers' live show also has a feel of Dylan's most famous backing players, The Band, albeit one infused with Cajun and old time country music.
The encore was equally robust and rowdy, with a fine rendition of Townes Van Zandt's Two Hands (who everyone seems to be covering these days - not that I'm complaining mind you) and a last minute addition of the fun Run Chicken Run, from their new album Yonder Is The Clock.
A glorious night indeed and highly recommended.
I beg to differ that A. A. Bondy had to put up with playing to a non-interested crowd.From where I was standing, everyone was mesmerised and absolutely loving it - nobody was talking - they were all concentrating on the beautiful music. However, I totally agree that it was a blinding gig from start to finish. A. A. Bondy and the Felices were a winning combo, evoking feelings of American times gone by. I hope they come back real soon.
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