Live Music News and Review
The First Word on the Scene
   |
Boris Garcia Miller’s Falls, MA January 16, 2010 This was the very first night of the Mid Month Music Madness concert series, that is being brought to you by Live Music News and Review, Simon Says Booking, and the Route 63 Roadhouse. And as Miller’s Falls isn’t the middle of New York City, we weren’t expecting Woodstock levels of attendance or anything. Our day started mid afternoon when the five guys from Boris Garcia showed up at our homestead nestled on the border between MA and New Hampshire. They had just come down from their show the night prior in CambridgeMA where they shared the stage with Hot Day at the Zoo for that band’s CD Release / 7th Anniversary party. They came in relaxed, and we tried to show them some New England hospitality, cracking open some brews, giving them a walking tour of the property and all the animals, and settling down for a home made meal. They departed soon thereafter and went to the venue to sound check and we all wandered over that way a short while later once the kids were asleep and the baby sitter was in place. The Route 63 Roadhouse is just that, a roadhouse tucked on Route 63 between Greenfield, Northampton, Amherst, Orange- generally centrally located in the PioneerValley in a spot that not many folks would likely know about. The joint is run by Carol, and she is a sweetheart! It has a nice stage for a small place, friendly bar tenders, some home made food (one of the guys had shepherd’s pie and it looked good) and a fine array of beverages. The walls are adorned with old album jackets, and it has a really nice down home vibe. The crowd was relatively light, but some folks came out to support the band and the concept. Boris Garcia played their first set, which featured a bit more of their older material, and was a bit on the folkier / acoustic side of what they do. Bob Stirner and Jeff  Otto, the defacto vocalist front guys, traded duties on bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and mandolin during that set. Stephe Ferraro back on the drums was very supportive rhythmically, and did not overstep his role during a more laid back set. Chip is the newest band member on pedal steel, and his sound really adds a great dimension to the band. Having pedal steel in a band normally pigeon holes them in a country setting, but since the onset of Buddy Cage and then Robert Randolph, the steel has emerged as a more rock driven instrument. Apparently this was Chip’s third show, and I must say he did not have any troubles keeping up with the rest of the guys.Rounding out the five piece band is Bud Burroughs, who seems to play just about anything. He nimbly meandered between electric mandolin, bouzouki, and electric piano. Bud is truly a masterful picker, and was really the go to guy when it came to taking a soaring solo. The band’s deference to Bud during the solo sections was well applied- though it did seem that everyone had their chance to take the limelight, and no one person really got too much attention there. The interplay between Chip and Bud was quite good- with pedal steel being an easy foi against which Bud could duel his licks and chops. The band took a break, and a few more people came in. All told, there was always some people there and enough to play to, but never a large crowd. The band was not deterred though. You can always tell a quality band- they seem to enjoy themselves even in a small room, even with challenges on the sound mix or within the crowd- they just enjoy playing, and this joy in music was quite evident within Boris Garcia. After a brief chat with Bobby the sound man, they got back up on stage and started their second set. The crowd did really start to respond better as Boris Garcia launched into their newer material, and switched from their foklier more acoustic vibe to a more solidly electric set. There was more soaring, and Bob Stirner spent much more time on lead electric guitar than he had during the first set. This was also the time that the band’s first cover  song came out, a Grateful Dead tune, Friend of the Devil. The crowd really started to react then, and a knot of dancers crowded up by the stage. The band really won the people over there, and continued to feed them what they craved, quality written music played well and taken out to the edges of a sonic frontier- without wandering so far away as to become indulgent. The rapport was really struck between audience and musicians, and you could tell by the end of the night that there was a genuine friendship there, even if they didn’t know each other!! Despite not being packed, the club’s crowd demanded an encore and got one. As the night faded toward closing time, folks bought cds and got autographs, and the band promised to come back another time. Overall, a perfect start to the Mid Month Music Madness concert series. Next month, it will be Dave Keller and his blues band on February 13th, SAT night, again at the Roadhouse. In the meantime, Bobby recorded the show, and hopefully it’ll end up on www.archive.org at some point. If you are itching to hear this lineup of the band, their show the night before is already posted. Set I 1. Other Shoe 2. Through The Window 3. Shady Grove 4. Bully Song--> 5. Nine Fine Wines 6. Fall 7. Holiday  8. Walking Barefoot 9. GoodbyeJoe 10.SchwenksvilleTown Set II 1. Point Of Grace 2. Song Of Love 3. Banter and Band Intros 4. Good Home 5. Deaf Dumb and Blind 6. She Wasn’’t Born 7. Friend Of The Devil 8. The Other Side 9. Mighty High 10.Encore Break _________________ 11. Whiskey Canadian
LMNR -
Wed, Jan 20, 2010, 3:43 P
|
Sep 8, 2010
  |
Montague WebWorks | 413.522.4808 | Contact Sales
