The Barr Shows in NYC

[johnhk4]

I was lucky enough to make it to both Barr Brothers shows in NYC last week.

The show at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn was better attended and had a much more intimate feel. I was very happy to hear non-Barr Brothers CD tunes (3 of them) preformed solidly and fitting in fluidly with the other tunes. There is a honey-melon/african feeling tune which includes a section of trade offs between Brad and Sarah. This section was a real crowd pleaser and was pretty magical to watch! They also played the newer tune that has been dubbed 'went to market' by the slipboards, although when Brad was telling the rest of the band what song to play next, he was clearly calling it something else. When it came time for Brad to tell the "Sarah through the wall" story, Sarah playfully cut him off and said that she'd rather hear the story about how Brad and Andrew met. Andrew smiled and said into the mic, "I dunno, it's X-rated". Brad then said something about burying him in the woods. It was all in good fun, but then, no "Sarah through the wall" was played! The tunes all sounded really tight and well rehearsed, and I think that "Give the Devil back..." had a part or two switched around or at least in a different order. There was a really good turnout for the Barr Brothers and I'd say about half to 2/3rds of the crowd cleared out when Memphis took the stage. I am a really big fan of Stars, so I kind of felt bad for Torquil. I am guilty as well since I too cleared out.

The next night at the Mercury lounge, the turnout was not so big. The people running the mercury lounge struck me as kind of jaded and more interested in serving drinks. But that is beside the point. The show started a little after 7, and was over a little before 8!! way too short!! Brad even commented at one point during the show that it was kind of strange to be playing in a bar in NYC and it was clearly still light outside, but he added, it was also "kind of cool." The setlist was pretty much the same although some songs were in a different order. The Sarah through the wall story was told and this time it was played! They played it a little bit faster than usual, giving it some zip, and Brad referred to it as "a quick version" (I'm glad that didn't mean "abridged"). Went to Market sounded really solid, as did Beggar.

I have a few copies of their longer shows, and I can't wait to see them when they have 2 sets and an encore or a least some breathing room for exploration.

In all both shows were fun but I think they really felt better at the Brooklyn show since the turnout was better and the crowd and venue seemed to be much more about the music than the drinks.

- john

[lucasdavidsamuels]

Thanks for the review. The 'honeymelon' style tune is "If You Leave Me" and 'went to market' is now "Little Lover"

Can't wait to see their full show in Toronto on may 18. my buddy asked brad about it and he laughed saying 'i hope we have enough songs to play'. Should be fun!

[bear]

Little Lover is a fantastic song.

[jibooer]

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