From Good Homes | “Secret Show” | Review

By: Tyler Curtis

From Good Homes :: 11.24.10 :: The Stanhope House :: Stanhope, NJ

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The band’s reunion will continue with a weekend of shows at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ on December 17 & 18. Tickets for the shows are $28 in advance and $33 on the day of show. Purchase tickets here . More information is available at www.wellmonttheatre.com and www.fromgoodhomes.com .

Vintage FGH

From Good Homes opened up an old door at the newly managed Stanhope House, bringing together people who hadn’t seen each other in the band’s ten year hiatus. Since FGH has played in venues like the Wellmont Theatre in December of ’09, and Tuxedo, NY in May 2010, there have been large crowds for the reunion. In the 250-capacity Stanhope House you couldn’t go the whole night without making eye contact with everyone in the crowd. The positivity and excitement from the audience must have shined on to Todd Sheaffer, Brady Rymer, Patrick Fitzsimmons, Dan Myers and Jaime Coane because the music was up to par like they never broke up and took a ten year break.

The first set started off with a high-energy rendition of “Parachute.” The sing-along aspect to the FGH repertoire rose for the first of many times during “Go Wild,” leaving singer-songwriter-guitarist Sheaffer in control of leading the crowd to scream along to the lyrics. Other songs were executed in a way focused more on instrumentation such as the upbeat “Butterfly & The Tree” and “Into The Black,” which was a ground shattering piece with deep bass bombs from Rymer. The mood lightened up during songs like “Charlie Hogan,” and “Coming On Home,” but in between, the heavy-rock flavor lingered during “Way To Go Pam,” highlighted by beautiful sax lines, and Sheaffer’s colorful articulation of the unique lyrics.

The second set began with the laidback, jazz esque “Dance A Hole,” leading into a mixture of jams, ballads and sing-alongs. Fitzsimmons was on fire all night, banging out a jam inducing beat during “Suzanna Walker” and playing on the mellow side on “Place Where Song’s Begin.” A funky New Orleans-esque influence caused an improvisational frenzy during “It’s Getting Dirty,” while he laid down a hypnotic beat including all of his drums on “I Only Want.” The set continued with a bang, and during comical fan favorite “Ballad of Todd and Tracy,” they dug into “I Am A Mess,” a funky-groove that Sheaffer still plays with current project Railroad Earth. “Raindance” could only be described as overwhelming with the band showing they can overpower a crowd with emotion. The second set ended with Rymer leading “Second Red Barn On The Right,” where he stole the show through his enthusiastic vocals and pristine bass playing.

Vintage FGH

To satisfy the crowd one last time, they offered up the highly requested Sheaffer narrative “Grandmas Apple Dumplings” for the first encore, which shook the floor and snatched up the last of the crowd’s boisterous energy. However, the band wasn’t done as they went into Van Morrison’s “Into The Mystic,” a pleasant cover made interesting by Dan Myer’s saxophone. Closing with a bang for From Good Home’s meant Sheaffer screaming – a sound not often heard at Railroad Earth or From Good Homes’ shows – to “Bow Wow Wow” as he encouraged the crowd to scream at the top of there lungs along with him.

If the smiles on the faces of the crowd didn’t do it for you, then the impressive musicianship surely had you on your toes. It was an honor to see a band playing in their original local area after reuniting in the past year at a place ten times larger than The Stanhope House. It’s stunning that this only the sixth time they’ve played together in public since reuniting (including a secret barn show this past May). Their music leads one to believe they’ve been on tour regularly, working out there repertoire after a decent hiatus. The two shows in December at the Wellmont Theatre will certainly prove once again that these musicians can incorporate stellar songwriting with top-notch jams in the their style of “hick pop.”

Setlist
Set 1: Parachute, Go Wild, Here Comes The Rain, Butterfly & The Tree, House on a Hill, New Hat, Into The Black, Do You Remember, Charlie Hogan, Way To Go Pam, Comin On Home
Set 2: Dance A Hole, Radio On, Suzanna Walker, Where The Songs Begin, Sing Away The Blue, It’s Gettin’ Dirty, All I Can Do, Ride All Night, Dancing Barefoot, I Only Want, The Ballad of Todd & Tracy, Fruitful Acre, I Am A Mess, Raindance, Second Red Barn On The Right
Encore: Grandma’s Apple Dumplings, Into The Mystic, Bow Wow Wow

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