The Felice Brothers will never forget performing in St. Louis — at least the last time they rolled through St. Louis in 2014 when some of their instruments were stolen during a long spate of that happening to bands traveling through town (the thieves were finally apprehended). “But we got all new shit,” James Felice said of the experience, “It’s good to be back.”
And the small but appreciative, die-hard fans in attendance at Off Broadway on Tuesday night were ecstatic for a chance to spend the evening with this understated, no-nonsense, slightly raucous, rustic group.
The band came on strong for its hour-plus set with “Holy Weight Champ” and “Hometown Hero” off their newly-released, much anticipated album Undress which is chock full of songs addressing today’s political climate that Ian Felice shared about in this statement, “Many of the songs on the new album are motivated by a shift from private to public concerns. It isn’t hard to find worthwhile things to write about these days, there are a lot of storms blooming on the horizon and a lot of chaos that permeates our lives. The hard part is finding simple and direct ways to address them.”
Many of the early songs in their set came from Undress including “The Kid,” “Salvation Army Girl,” “Jack Reminiscing,” “Nail it on the First Try” (a duo with just the brothers), and the powerful title track “Undress.”
They then seamlessly shifted to songs from previous albums that included the light “Bird on a Broken Wing” to “Let Me Come Home,” “Aerosol Ball” (which elicited many cheers from the crowd), to the deceptively jolly “Whiskey in My Whiskey” (as with many a song by this band, the sound is in complete juxtaposition to the lyrics).
Singer, songwriter Diana DeMuth, originally of Boston, opened with a 30-minute set with her and a guitar. Her liltingly, sweet, strong voice hushed the growing crowd with songs such as the catchy “Hotel Song” and “It’s Not Over.”
She told the crowd that her debut album will be out in February 2020.
Thank you, The Felice Brothers for taking another chance on St. Louis.
This link will take you to more photos from the August 20, 2019, Off Broadway show.
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
