The Motet Collaborates With Members Of Lettuce In Brooklyn
By Team JamBase Nov 24, 2014 • 10:20 am PST
Images by: Adam McCullough
Words by: Scott Bernstein
The Motet with The Heavy Pets :: 11.21.14 :: Brooklyn Bowl :: Brooklyn, NY
Colorado’s The Motet don’t make it out East very often, but that may change after they impressed a capacity crowd at Brooklyn Bowl in NYC on Friday night as part of a show that featured support from South Florida’s The Heavy Pets. The two bands moved on to Boston on Saturday night, where once again they performed before a full house.
The Heavy Pets came on around 8 p.m. on Friday night and impressed with an improv-heavy set that featured a particularly expansive version of “Hedi Sigismondi.” Yet it was the set-closing rendition of “So Thank You Music,” with its blissful peak, that drove the ever-building crowd wild and clearly won the band new fans. The Pets have finally settled in on a firm lineup with bassist Tony D’Amato in fine form throughout the band’s set.
Brooklyn Bowl was amped and packed by the time The Motet started their first of two sets at the NYC venue. The band provided a fun, dance party and it seemed everywhere you turned there were looks of joy on audience members’ faces. The Motet has never been tighter as they delivered a performance heavy on originals showing there’s so much more to the group than just their ability to turn out memorable theme shows.
Just as The Motet has been building a dedicated fanbase and scene around them in Colorado, so have fellow funk revivalists Lettuce in New York City. The two bands share much in common and will even team up to play Red Rocks in June. NYC live music fans were treated to a preview of what will go down on the Rocks next summer, when Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch and trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom emerged to collaborate with The Motet on a tight and nasty cover of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Jupiter.”
For a while, The Motet was known for its rotating lineup, but now the band has settled in on a ridiculously talented group of players that include mastermind Dave Watts, who drums with the precision of a metronome. Bassist Garrett Sayers is a superstar who leaves jaws on the floor in the wake of his solos and deep in the pocket grooves. Jans Ingber has emerged as a top-notch front man who can quickly get a crowd behind him, while keyboardist Joey Porter delivered one insane solo after another. Guitarist Ryan Jalbert perfectly augments his mates with funky rhythms and gripping leads. The two-man horn section of Gabe Mervine (trumpet) and Matt Pitts (tenor sax) are both virtuosos with over-the-top ability.
Friday night showed The Motet are no longer one of the jam scene’s best kept secret as there’s no doubt the secret is out.
Setlists
The Heavy Pets: Dewpoint, Xylophone, Movie Star, Strawberry Mansion, Giant Birds, Holy Holy, Hedi Sigismondi, So Thank You Music
The Motet Set One: Funny Bone > Extraordinarily High > 123, Rynodub, Keep On Don’t Stoppin’ > Shake, Closed Mouth Don’t Get Fed
The Motet Set Two: Like We Own It, Handcuffs > Expensive Shit, Jupiter*, Nemesis > Cheap Shit@
* -w/ Eric “Benny” Bloom and Adam Deitch
@ -w/ Drew Sayers
Audio by Eric McRoberts
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