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Words by Chris Clark :: Images by Tobin Voggesser
Brothers Past :: 10.07.05 :: Cervantes' Masterpiece :: Denver, CO
Some things just take longer to catch on.
Brothers Past :: 10.06 :: Colorado |
For me, a fan who maintained his avid support for Phish even into their dying days, it was difficult to allow the torch to be passed along. Over the last half decade, there's been The Disco Biscuits, some Soulive, and STS9, all of which own a significant chunk of my musical heart. Still, there's been this emptiness, this void that's yet to be filled since the departure of our friends from Vermont.
That was until I was introduced to Brothers Past. A good friend of mine had pestered me for what seemed like an eternity to check these guys out. "They weren't just another live electronic band from Philadelphia," he said. But instead, this was a band of substance, a group of musicians more on the level of a Radiohead or The Cure than the New Deal or Biscuits. So a couple of days before they arrived in Colorado to conclude their tour, I grabbed their newest album, This Feeling's Called Goodbye and was frankly blown away. I mean, BLOWN AWAY. The production shimmered, the musicianship sparkled, and the album flowed harmoniously from track to track. Then I asked myself, "Was this just a studio band that shined in the studio but lacked in the live setting?" That question was answered with the band's stellar performance at Cervantes' Masterpiece in Denver earlier this month.
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The song is the most important thing. We write songs, we make records - that's what we do. Right now, we're trying to bridge the gap between electronic music and pop.
-Tom Hamilton |
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Tom Hamilton by Tobin Voggesser
What also helped to solidify the band as a true contender in my book was my conversation with guitarist Tom Hamilton. His get-straight-to-the-point approach was refreshing, as was his desire to take music to fresh, new directions and to rise above that often undeserved 'jamband' label.
McKee & Parnell :: Brothers Past :: 10.06 :: Colorado |
"The song is the most important thing," Hamilton began. "We write songs, we make records - that's what we do. Right now, we're trying to bridge the gap between electronic music and pop."
And that they are. From the opening chords of "Shut Up" to the set-ending last segments of "Shut Up," and all that was in-between, the band was firing from every direction. Hamilton and keyboardist Tom McKee's songs offered two distinct entities within the BP sound. Whereas Hamilton's lyrics in songs like the aforementioned "Shut Up" are concise and cut-and-dry (Here I am, the time is at hand. You pick the weapon, I'll write the plan. I'll stand, demand all the respect that I can), Mckee's are more on the emotional tip, as seen in "Words Like Weapons," (I've got a letter that I'm dying to send you. I think it would end you, I think you'd agree. Writing it almost was the end of me). Throughout the first set, and the entire show at that, McKee and Hamilton's songwriting was beyond impressive, especially with the paranoid, Set Two-opening "State Police" and the thought-provoking "Forget You Know Me."
Parnell & Hamilton :: Brothers Past :: 10.06 :: Colorado |
It wasn't just the songwriting that set Brothers Past apart throughout the evening, but also their musicianship. Hamilton is a shredding guitarist. He can rip it up with the best of them. The precise rhythm section of drummer Rick Lowenberg and bassist Clay Parnell provided ample solidarity for McKee's dexterity on the keys and Hamilton's thick chops. But in the end, it's still about the song for the members of Brothers Past.
"Pieces of us fit into all these [genre] labels, but the song is the most important thing. We bring that pop sensibility. That is the difference - it's all apples and oranges at that point," said Hamilton.
For this night, Brothers Past proved just how potent they are in the live setting. Being a band that prides itself on making albums, they still put on a show that rivals most bands I've encountered over the last several years. From the lights to the sound to the songs, the entire production was on-point, and after chatting with the band, you get the impression that they are completely in control of their own destiny, and loving it.
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