Fame is a bee.
It has a song--
It has a sting--
Ah, too, it has a wing. -emily Dickinson
setlist
marlboro man
Murder by mistletoe
Loves me tenderly
katie dear
whiskey in my whiskey
Stepdad
River Jordan
Frankies gun
Goddamn you Jim
White Limo
Endless Night
Farleys Song for gramps
Cooperstown
chicken wire
Take this bread
Run Chicken Run
St Stephens End
Glory Glory (crowd on stage)
It was a strange night in Boston, mostly because i had driven 1,000 miles to get to the show, and i was barely awake to start the show. Willy Mason opened and put together a nice solo acoustic set that was well recieved in a town where Willy is quite popular.
The Felice Brothers took the stage at the Paradise Rock Club at little past 10:00pm and the club was packed to the gills. The Brothers, through neverending touring, have built a growing ministry of rock and roll, with lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, Ian Felice, the pied piper to a legion of fans seeking their dirtbag brand of rock, folk, country, blues and occasionally hip hop, splashed music.
The set was not unusual, except the inclusion of the brand new "Endless Nights" and
the fairly new "Stepdad", a Christmas penned tune, that was the highlight of the evening. There was very little banter between the audience and the crowd, and the most uncomfortable one was a little fun ribbing James Felice tried to give the Boston audience because of the New York Yankees World Series Title. There was no laughter, just an uncomfortable silence mixed with a few grumbles.
The crowd, mostly college students, came to life with "Frankies Gun" and continued to merrily party along till the encore finale of Glory Glory, which saw Ian invite the crowd onstage. I've seen a few of these over the last couple years, but this one bordered on scary. Ian teetered on the edge of the stage, half his boots off the edge, as the boozed out crowd, partied and sang the chorus. The fans grabbed and slapped what they wished and this was capped off by Farley's complete and violent destruction of the drum kit. The fans started to behave a little scary and taking anything that wasn't hammered down. Dave Turbeville looks helplessly as his workstation was smashed and pillaged.
Despite this, It was a night these kids will likely never forget, and they will now pass on to their friends memories of these dirtbag pied pipers. I sense the next time we see the Felice Brothers it will be down a couple of train stops at the House of Blues.
