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Daily Archives: October 11, 2015

October 11, 2015 · 2:33 PM

The Ballroom Thieves

Friday, September 25, 2015

Johnson Hall, Gardiner, Maine

The Ballroom Thieves are a rock solid favorite band of mine and I’ve written about them a bunch on whatbreesees.com. I first saw The Ballroom Thieves open for The Lone Bellow in June of 2013 at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The fact that I am in love with The Lone Bellow, but that I didn’t want The Thieves to rush their opening set, speaks volumes about how good they are. Their infectious, percussive, dynamic sound—with honest lyrics and gorgeous harmonies—makes them the full package.

I send an annual email to Mike Miclon, Executive Artistic Director of Gardiner’s historical Johnson Hall, with a list of my favorite acts I’d like to see perform a mere .2 miles from my house in the upcoming year. He fell in love with The Ballroom Thieves right away and reached out to book them for this great season of shows at Johnson Hall. Coming off their first performance at Newport Folk Festival, I wasn’t sure they’d take a gig in such a small town, but they did!

This abundantly talented Boston-based trio—Maine’s own Martin Earley (guitar/vocals), Calin Peters (cello/vocals), and Devin Mauch (percussion/vocals)—is simply made to play music together. This show coincided with their second anniversary as a group. It’s incredible to think how quickly they’ve become such a strong unit. Their first full-length album, A Wolf in the Doorway, beautifully captures their spirit, and their newest songs (a few of which they treated us to) continue to show their growth and evolving energy as a band. I like their music so much that it’s impossible to pick favorites, but I always appreciate getting to hear “Coward’s Son” (Martin’s folks were in the crowd and he reminded us it’s just a lyric) and “Bury Me Smiling” (featuring Calin on lead vocal) live. Devin sang lead on a fantastic cover of Frightened Rabbit’s “My Backwards Walk,” and it shined brightly as a highlight of the night, especially because I can’t recall ever hearing him take the lead vocal part before. I like the trend towards featuring each vocalist solo from time to time. Their beautiful blend makes it tricky to distinguish their individual voices, so getting to hear each one solo is a treat.

The Ballroom Thieves–Martin, Devin, and Calin

I appreciated that Mike gave me a shout out before introducing the band and credited me with getting The Ballroom Thieves to Gardiner. Although I rarely like to talk to musicians I admire (you never know when they might be having a bad day and it ruins the love you have), I enjoyed friendly banter during the show with all three, which was very kind. After the show, my sweetie pointed out that I chatted with the band enough during the show to be a fourth band member. Devin joked that he must have lost the invitation I sent for putting them up at my house for the night. Funny, because I had meant to send an email to their manager Eric extending an invitation to house them after the show, but I was so busy running Homecoming week at my school that it completely slipped my mind. Sorry, Thieves! You have an open invitation, both to return to Johnson Hall and to escape the van life for an evening at my house next time you come to town! More pictures below!

xo,

bree

Unplugged encore on the floor

Houndmouth with Twin Limb

Monday, September 21, 2015

Port City Music Hall, Portland, Maine

Indiana’s Houndmouth played the Newport Folk Festival in 2013 (here’s their full set) and came to Port City Music Hall with Rayland Baxter in March of 2014. They were on the fringes of my radar then, and I missed both shows. I’d heard good buzz about their live show, though, and was excited when I won tickets from 98.9 WCLZ for this one. It was the encouragement I needed to get myself to Portland on a Monday night.

Twin Limb—a duo from Louisville, KY—was well worth showing up early for. Lacey Guthrie on accordion (yep, accordion) and Maryliz Bender on drums sang lovely harmonies and sounded fantastic together. Their sound was ethereal and full and not completely unlike Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine. Check out their song “Red Sun” to get a sense of their style.

Twin Limb

Houndmouth brought it! They were quite a departure from their friends Twin Limb, and were so different style-wise, that their raucous rock music caught me a tiny bit off guard in the best possible way. They came out in costume, too—a shiny silver (potentially) pleather shirt with a bright blue cape, cheetah print bellbottom stretch pants, even a faux fur coat. They didn’t take themselves too seriously (obviously) and clearly came to entertain. I had a total blast! I was glad to hear “Sedona” and “Say It,” both from their 2015 release Little Neon Limelight. We had such fun early on that we texted our friend Bartlett, who looks an awful lot like the guitarist with the cheetah pants, and got him over to the party halfway through the set. A super fun Monday night! Definitely catch Houndmouth if they’re in a city near you! iPhone pictures below!

xo,

bree