March 18th was a welcome date on the calendar for the Devil Makes Three. Originally it was to be their travel day home from a month on the road, but like most other days for the trio, they found themselves still heading to another venue. This time heading to The Note in West Chester, Pa, they were making up a show cancelled earlier due to Peter Bernhard being under the weather earlier in the tour.
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| Show and tour are over.. Photo by Jeff Coon |
The full house at The Note was very amped up and eager for the show. Many had arrived for the February 23rd show to find The Devil Makes Three cancelled. Most missed the fact that Brown Bird continued on with their portion of the billing playing a fantastic free expanded set. (Click here for review of the Brown Bird show) The organic (smelly), well soused crowd was certainly in for a treat. It wasn't "beneath the piano", but the small venue was the band's "natural home", an intimate crowd soaking in everything the band played.
Cooper McBean rocked an old Gibson guitar or his tenor banjo while sporting a Kiss T-shirt. Lucia Turino was with her "favorite dance partner" her upright bass. Peter Bernard wearing his trademark Trilliby was the ringleader for the night playing guitar and holding his own on banjo for 'Uncle Harvey'.
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| Cooper McBean - Photo by Jeff Coon |
The set, as mentioned above, was near perfect. Missing perfection, in my opinion, by only omitting 'This Life' and/or their cover of 'They call that Religion'. But really, this set was even better than the set from their new live album Stomp and Smash. They left behind no "hits" even playing my favorite (right on cue, might I add, right after I gave a yell for it) 'Aces and Twos'. They included two covers, working in Blind Willie McTell's 'Statesboro Blues' and the traditional 'St James (Infirmary)'. Highlights included crowd favorite 'Gracefully Facedown', Cooper's monologue on 'Uncle Harvey', and a sing-a-long on 'Old Number 7'. The band played such a tight set, that it's hard to point out something that was better than the rest. The band just knew their parts and instruments so intimately that it was all so flawless!
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| Lucia Turnio - Photo By Jeff Coon |
On the flip side there were no discernable weaknesses either. You could say it was the tuning into of 'Johnson Family', but hey that happens. It could be the limited storytelling but that is clearly kept within the songs.
If you missed the show or tour, check back in a few weeks as dates get announced, filling in between their many festivals this early summer.
SET LIST - The Devil Makes Three
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| Original set list, signed for a fan by the Devil Makes Three |
1. The Bullet The Devil Makes Three
2. Beneath the Piano. The Devil Makes Three
3. For Good Again Do Wrong Right
4. Shades The Devil Makes Three
5. 10 Feet Tall The Devil Makes Three
6 All Hail Do Wrong Right
7. Gracefully Facedown Do Wrong Right
8. Johnson Family Do Wrong Right
9. Statesboro Blues Do Wrong Right
** cover of Blind Willie McTell
10. Uncle Harvey
A Little Bit Faster and a Little Bit Worse
11. Tow Longjohns, Boots, and a Belt
12. Graveyard The Devil Makes Three
13. Dragging All Those Chains ** new song **
14. Old Number 7 The Devil Makes Three
15. Do Wrong Right Do Wrong Right
16. Aces And Twos.. Do Wrong Right
17. Black Irish Longjohns, Boots, and a Belt
18. Help Yourself Do Wrong Right
Encore
19. St. James
A Little Bit Faster and a Little Bit Worse
20. Bangor Mash Longjohns, Boots, and a Belt
For more info on their recent album, check out the Root Down In the Shadow review of Stomp and Smash
For even more awesomeness, read the Root Down In The Shadow interview with Peter Bernhard
It was a small, dark, smelly place. The lights were covered in red gels, with limited white spot lights. PBR and Guiness Draught cans were in abundance. Not to mention Jack and Makers Mark. It was perfect.
ReplyDeleteThen TDM3 got on stage and made it perfecter.