Boston Rock Photos And Stuff
Mellow Bravo is firing on all cylinders right now. They’re loud, raucous, soulful, heavy and wildly entertaining. Their new material is flat-out devastating. With the added depth these songs bring to their set, Mellow Bravo can manipulate the pacing for maximum impact. That’s exactly what they did at TT’s.
I’m down with Mellow Bravo, The Dirty Truckers, Cropduster and Murcielago playing every Independence Eve. Let’s make it a tradition.
Remember all that stuff I said about Mellow Bravo’s Radio set having a different vibe? Yeah, not on this tune.
There was a very special episode of the Mellow Bravo show on Saturday night. The band set their “party band” image aside for the night and played nothing but sensitive ballads. OK, that’s a lie. No set that includes “Freshman Prom Queen” will ever be tagged as sensitive, but there was a bit of a different dynamic on display at this Radio gig. Mellow Bravo dug deep into some of their more textured material, showcasing the strength of the songs and their ability to play to them. This is one tight outfit.
Mellow Bravo is the band you should be begging to play at your basement kegger. Sure, the cops are gonna come and bust the thing up, but it’ll be awesome until then…
There’s this movie called I Get Off. It stars a white 1974 Pontiac Trans AM driven by Sheila, played by an otherwise unknown actress who now makes her meager living charging people $20 a pop to have their picture taken with her and a replica of said car at comic conventions. In this cinematic masterpiece there are bar fights, mustaches, a Columbo knock-off police detective, bricks and bricks of an unspecified narcotic and a guy in a banana suit.
In the climactic scene, the Trans Am races head-on toward a tanker truck in the desert. The windows are down. Sheila’s hair is blowing in the wind. She lifts her sunglasses. Her eyes are focused. There’s a shotgun on the passenger seat. Her hand reaches down to turn up the radio.
Mellow Bravo blares from the speakers as a sly smile comes across Sheila’s face.
Then it gets messy.
Mellow Bravo played their Rumble semi-final set as if it was their last ever. I suspect they play all of their shows this way.
What a fun band. I wouldn’t doubt that Mellow Bravo fans think the band has a middle name. I, for one, found myself muttering “Mellow F’n Bravo” underneath my breath more than once throughout their supercharged set. The band was firing on all cylinders, and singer Keith Pierce was their spark plug. Jeffery Fultz and Andrew Doherty channeled every classic rock guitar riff they’ve ever heard. Dave Jarvis on drums and Seager Tennis on bass kept things moving along with reckless abandon. Jess Collins helped make the whole thing gel on keys. She also happened to explode when they put a microphone in her hand and gave her center stage.
Semi-Final Night #1 of the 2011 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. Spirit Kid won the night, but any of the bands could have moved on given a different set of judges or a groundhog seeing his shadow or what have you. Mellow Bravo, Sidewalk Driver, and Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling (and Spirit Kid, of course) were just that good. What an awesome night.
