You may have noticed a pattern that - SHOCKER - I enjoy music of the funky variety. You know - something where if you're sitting down, you're definitely not getting the full experience. So a bluegrass show is a different experience for me. My concert companion, Amanda, has gotten me to go to a few bluegrass shows - Devil Makes Three, Route 29 Revue, Two Ton Twig. OK, OK - she got me to go to Route 29 Revue because Trombone Shorty was playing (not a tough sell). Anyway, I've had my share of weird experiences at bluegrass shows, namely witnessing a bluegrass moshpit. To me, these two things are conflicting ideas, but whatever.
 |
| Amanda and me at Route 29 Revue in Columbia, MD |
Brothers Comatose is a bluegrass band out of San Francisco, CA. I learned later that they collaborate pretty regularly with one of my favorite artists - Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers! (More on that later...)
They were playing at Gypsy Sally's in Georgetown for $10! Crazy! Gypsy Sally's is a fairly new venue, trying to find it's place among the DC live music scene. The owners are a Woodstock-era couple (I met the guy, and he's wearing a Grateful Dead shirt, shorts and Birkenstocks - you can't go wrong with this combination in my opinion). They have a venue that can hold around 200 people, plus a side bar and event space they use for open mic nights. They regularly have Grateful Dead listening parties, and use old jam band concert tickets to adorn the bars. I love the Hamilton dearly, but this is as close to live music utopia as it gets. The shows they feature are generally Americana in genre, but also can get funky in their offerings - the first show I saw here was Orgone. FUNKAYYYYY.
I was most proud of myself for actually taking public transportation to this show - anyone in DC knows that taking public transportation to Georgetown is a feat in itself. Gypsy Sally's location is a little tough - it's underneath Whitehurst freeway, probably 3/4 of a mile from the bustling Georgetown waterfront. I thought the Georgetown movie theater was far.
After our Oregon Trail-esque journeys to Georgetown from our respective homes, we got some obligatory cocktails and settled in for Brothers Comatose. A duo named Toka Chase opened - weird but awesome. It was bluegrass with some rap lyrics and flow. The chick was phenomenal - her voice would be welcome in any genre. Their merch set up was the kicker - as they described it, an old suitcase with the lighting of a bug zapper.
Brothers Comatose sounded great live - better than what I heard on Pandora earlier that day in my opinion. Great harmonies, with a bassist whose favorite band was DC's own Fugazi - WHAT?!
I had had several glasses of wine at this point (don't judge) to preface this story. The crowd was relatively small - maybe 40 or 50 people, which in this room, felt incredibly small. The lead singer asked the crowd if anyone know the song 'Morningtime'. Obviously, I heard them ask if anyone knew the song 'Closing Time' by Semisonic. So I yell out ' DUH'. The venue was silent and everyone was staring at me. I was like what? Does no one else know 'Closing Time'? Mid way through this experience, I realized that he definitely DID NOT say 'Closing Time'. Ironically, 'Morningtime' is a song they do with Nicki Bluhm - fail. So when they asked me to come on stage, the crowd was cheering and I had to quiet everyone down to let them know that in fact, I have no idea what 'Morningtime' sounds like and I thought they were referring to 'Closing Time'. They went into a mini bluegrass rendition of 'Closing Time'. One of Amanda's friend's moms actually knew the song and went up on stage and sang with the band to 'MORNINGtime'. It's actually a very lovely song.
All in all, a great night with good memories, good friends and eventually - closing time.
No comments:
Post a Comment