The Felice Brothers were easily my biggest disappointment of SXSW. One of only two actual showcases that I went to, their drunken and overall lackluster performance after I stood through two unremarkable bands made me so crabby that I went back to my hotel room after their set for an early night, skipping Jason Isbell and Tim Easton. Even though the two shows I saw them do last year were terrific, that last one was fresh enough in my memory to make me think twice about going tonight, but I did say I would give them another chance. In the end, I was convinced by “free” and “terrace.”
At SXSW they were all obnoxious, only quiet bass player Christmas Clapton and fill-in drummer Jeremy Backofen showed any restraint at all. The rest staggered through their set with drunken abandon. They were lucky no one got hurt at the end of the set when fiddler Greg Farley tackled Christmas as he stood on top the bass drum, scattering people and instruments everywhere. Tonight my only problem was with Farley. Mysteriously, he seems to think he is in a hip hop band instead of a rural band from upstate New York who claimed they hadn’t even heard the Bob Dylan when they made their first record. His stage behavior is more in line with the Roots than with the Band. He was annoying to the point that I couldn’t even look at him, the only way I could enjoy the show was to ignore him completely. Only when he strapped on the washboard and stopped the “woo woo” behavior was he tolerable.
Other than that, it was a pretty enjoyable show. “Frankie’s Gun,” the ridiculously infectious song which anchored their first record but was left off the SXSW set, was thankfully back tonight. “Run Chicken Run,” a silly but enjoyable song from their sophomore release Yonder is the Clock, was a hoot live. Currently there are only two actual brothers in the Felice Brothers, lead singer Ian and multi-instrumentalist James. Drummer Simon is taking time off to work on a literary project, and he is missed. In his absence James has taken over the lead vocal duties on the songs he used to sing, notably the smile-inducing “Whiskey in my Whiskey,” as in “I put some…” Oh yeah, I’ve been there.
It wasn’t the revelation the first show had been or the hootenanny the second was, but at least it wasn’t the disappointment the last one was. Hopefully they are back on track. Maybe a little less whiskey in their whiskey would be in order.
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