Review: Brian Vander Ark / Luke Brindley 7/29/06
Review by Lazlo
Photos by Naomi
Philadelphia, PA, what feels like a life-time ago I spent my freshman year there going to college. The college and I were not a good fit, and neither did I think Philly was for me...but my view is changing after the wonderful time I had the So Co Music Experience a few weeks ago (see my previous blog on it), and the great time I had Saturday at the World Cafe Live seeing former Verve Pipe frontman, Brian Vander Ark, and a great opening set by Luke Brindley.
My wife and I headed down to Philly in the early afternoon, figuring that we'd walk around the city before the show. Unfortunately, the part of the city that World Cafe Live is in is all college buildings (U Penn, and Drexel), so we walked 10 blocks before hitting much of anything, and then it was just a few shops and a bar & grill, where we had a good, but not outstanding dinner.
We walked back to World Cafe Live and arrived about an hour before the show started, so we enjoyed some over-priced, but not bad tasting, World Cafe Live desserts. It was then I noticed that the ceiling of the room looked like the ceiling of a Howard Johnson's restaurant from the 70's. I also wound up running into some old friends from the band Mojo Love Dog, once a mainstay of NJ's local music scene (what is it with me running into local NJ bands in Philly, at the So Co Music Experience I ran into another NJ band, Huma).
9PM rolled around and opening act Luke Brindley took to the stage. A former NJ musician who now resides in the Washington D.C. area, Luke plays solo sometimes and other times with his brother and brother-in-law under the apt name of the Brindley Brothers. On this night he was flying solo, and he took to the stage and ripped into a nice acoustic guitar instrumental. I've often said that if someone can do an interesting solo instrumental, that's talent, and Luke pulled off not just one, but two incredible instrumentals (more on the second one later). When Luke did sing, he had a really strong singer/songwriter voice, that was instantly familiar sounding (my friends from Mojo Love Dog referred to it as Springsteen-esque, but I'm still not sure that's the familiar sound I heard). The songs were catchy, especially "Saturday night", which became a sing-along that everyone seemed to enjoy. Luke also did a good cover of Dylan's "love minus zero". He closed out the night with the other instrumental, a Turkish sounding song, where he made his acoustic guitar sound like a middle-eastern tabla. It was truly an incredible thing to hear. Definitely check out the Brindley Brothers music, and if you're in D.C., stop by Jammin' Java, a concert venue run by the Brindleys.
By the time Brian Vander Ark took to the stage, I was well primed by a good opening act, and ready to rock (acoustically), and Brian did not disappoint. The show was a CD release party for his new solo album, "angel, put your face on", which I've been playing on Lazlo's Den for over a month now, and it's truly a great album from beginning to end. Seeing him playing these songs live, they took on a whole new life and energy. He opened with "too good for this world" from the new disc, and his voice just resonated through the venue, with pure feeling. He followed with, "I don't want to be a bother", and mid-way through the song Brian was joined by Larry Lowis on upright bass and Randy Sly on keys. Both added so much to that song and many others, as they came on and off the stage as needed, during the hour and a half set, and the three part harmonies they did together was so good that you really need to hear it for yourself (let's hope this trio, that was put together just for this show, continues to play out together).
So the question some of you will be asking is, did he do any Verve Pipe songs, specifically, "the freshmen"? Of course he did, and for a song that he has obviously had to play at every show since it went top 40 ten years ago, he did not just do a color-by-numbers version, no, he breathed new life into it, and it sounded as poignant as it did 10 years ago when I first heard it.
In addition to the songs from the "angel, put your face on", Brian played a couple of other songs from his Verve Pipe days, and a few songs from "resurrection", his first solo CD, and even tossed in a partial cover of Oasis' "champagne supernova", and a complete cover of Crosby Stills & Nash's, "our house".
Review by Lazlo
Photos by Naomi
Philadelphia, PA, what feels like a life-time ago I spent my freshman year there going to college. The college and I were not a good fit, and neither did I think Philly was for me...but my view is changing after the wonderful time I had the So Co Music Experience a few weeks ago (see my previous blog on it), and the great time I had Saturday at the World Cafe Live seeing former Verve Pipe frontman, Brian Vander Ark, and a great opening set by Luke Brindley.
My wife and I headed down to Philly in the early afternoon, figuring that we'd walk around the city before the show. Unfortunately, the part of the city that World Cafe Live is in is all college buildings (U Penn, and Drexel), so we walked 10 blocks before hitting much of anything, and then it was just a few shops and a bar & grill, where we had a good, but not outstanding dinner.
We walked back to World Cafe Live and arrived about an hour before the show started, so we enjoyed some over-priced, but not bad tasting, World Cafe Live desserts. It was then I noticed that the ceiling of the room looked like the ceiling of a Howard Johnson's restaurant from the 70's. I also wound up running into some old friends from the band Mojo Love Dog, once a mainstay of NJ's local music scene (what is it with me running into local NJ bands in Philly, at the So Co Music Experience I ran into another NJ band, Huma).
9PM rolled around and opening act Luke Brindley took to the stage. A former NJ musician who now resides in the Washington D.C. area, Luke plays solo sometimes and other times with his brother and brother-in-law under the apt name of the Brindley Brothers. On this night he was flying solo, and he took to the stage and ripped into a nice acoustic guitar instrumental. I've often said that if someone can do an interesting solo instrumental, that's talent, and Luke pulled off not just one, but two incredible instrumentals (more on the second one later). When Luke did sing, he had a really strong singer/songwriter voice, that was instantly familiar sounding (my friends from Mojo Love Dog referred to it as Springsteen-esque, but I'm still not sure that's the familiar sound I heard). The songs were catchy, especially "Saturday night", which became a sing-along that everyone seemed to enjoy. Luke also did a good cover of Dylan's "love minus zero". He closed out the night with the other instrumental, a Turkish sounding song, where he made his acoustic guitar sound like a middle-eastern tabla. It was truly an incredible thing to hear. Definitely check out the Brindley Brothers music, and if you're in D.C., stop by Jammin' Java, a concert venue run by the Brindleys.
By the time Brian Vander Ark took to the stage, I was well primed by a good opening act, and ready to rock (acoustically), and Brian did not disappoint. The show was a CD release party for his new solo album, "angel, put your face on", which I've been playing on Lazlo's Den for over a month now, and it's truly a great album from beginning to end. Seeing him playing these songs live, they took on a whole new life and energy. He opened with "too good for this world" from the new disc, and his voice just resonated through the venue, with pure feeling. He followed with, "I don't want to be a bother", and mid-way through the song Brian was joined by Larry Lowis on upright bass and Randy Sly on keys. Both added so much to that song and many others, as they came on and off the stage as needed, during the hour and a half set, and the three part harmonies they did together was so good that you really need to hear it for yourself (let's hope this trio, that was put together just for this show, continues to play out together).
So the question some of you will be asking is, did he do any Verve Pipe songs, specifically, "the freshmen"? Of course he did, and for a song that he has obviously had to play at every show since it went top 40 ten years ago, he did not just do a color-by-numbers version, no, he breathed new life into it, and it sounded as poignant as it did 10 years ago when I first heard it.
In addition to the songs from the "angel, put your face on", Brian played a couple of other songs from his Verve Pipe days, and a few songs from "resurrection", his first solo CD, and even tossed in a partial cover of Oasis' "champagne supernova", and a complete cover of Crosby Stills & Nash's, "our house".