In honor of Christopher Columbus and the rest of our founding fathers coming over on The Mayflower, here’s Reverse playing “United States”. Happy Columbus Day! Enjoy your turkey!
Reverse @ Church 9.29.2011
When my lovely wife (designer extraordinaire at Daykamp Creative) wants to go see Reverse on her birthday, who am I to argue? Ian Kennedy even played “Happy Birthday” for her. More importantly the band played “Victoria”, “Dead Man”, “Fluorescent” and a whole bunch of their other songs. Have I mentioned that these guys are one of the best bands in town? I think I have.
Reverse @ The Rosebud Bar 8.27.2011
Reverse. Wait. The Mighty Reverse.
Reverse is, without question, one of my favorite bands. Their song “Victoria” is the most played song in my iTunes library.* Their latest record, Monkey Mind, took about a bazillion years to record. It was worth the wait.
As much as I love their recorded material, Reverse is a live band. That should be obvious; any band with Mike Piehl on drums is a live band. The man is a groove monster. Throw in the unflappable Mike Quinn on bass and you’ve got a killer rhythm section for Ian Kennedy to torture his telecaster over. Seriously, how does he make a telecaster sound like that? Ian and Mike also have great complimentary voices. Reverse is amazing.
OK. Enough. You get it.
* I just did the math. “Victoria” was played exactly 50% more than the next most played song in my iTunes library.** The song is that good. Also, I’m not claiming that I’ve heard this particular Reverse song more than any other. I listen to music on vinyl, cd, cassette and blah blah blah as well. Not to mention all of the music I listened to before I digitized everything many years ago. I’m pretty sure the song I’ve heard the most in my life would either be a hair metal song or something by Barry Manilow.
**The next most played song is “Go Easy Now” by The Hellacopters. In reality, the play count difference is much smaller than it would appear, as the By The Grace Of God album played nonstop in my car for at least 6 months when I first got it.
Reverse – “Victoria” @ The Rosebud Bar 8.27.2011
Here’s a video of Reverse playing one of my all-time favorite songs.
Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance @ Brighton Music Hall 3.30.2011
Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance cannot be suppressed. You can try, but you will fail.
Drummer Mike Piehl and bassist Tommy Lada are just too much of a force to overcome. You will expend so much energy grappling with their might that you will be unable to defend yourself from the onslaught of aural excitement being heaved upon you by guitarists Tony Savarino and Scott Dakota. Wave after wave of sonic bliss will crash upon your ears.
And what of the leader of this peaceful revolution? What of Garvy J.? Through it all he strums his 12 string acoustic guitar. Crooning. Reminding you where you came from. Taking you where you are going. Showing you the way to happiness. Guiding you into the lights.