The Sights, The Figgs, Nouvellas at Bruar Falls
When a band is near the end of its twelfth year on this Earth, and has not become filthy rich, then one of two things must be true: they are either quite deluded, or else quite good. The Sights (from Detroit) have always been one of the good ones. I had no intention of missing their first gig in New York in several years, a show in early December 2009 at Bruar Falls in Williamsburg.
One thing which Bruar Falls has in common with its previous incarnation (The Lucky Cat) is that the stage is invisible when you walk in the door. All you see is a bar which seems to go on forever. Go past, waaaay past the bar to the back of the room and you will find a small (but not tiny) stage bathed in projected rainbows, enough open space for maybe 30-40 people, and the mixing booth. The layout actually reminiscent of CBGBs. The crowd can spread out to the side of and behind the stage as long as they don't mind sharing space with the bands' equipment, merch tables and the bathroom line. Yes, the bathrooms are back behind the stage, and they're pretty bad, though not CBGB bad. At least they removed the mirror over the toilet (yes, it was formerly over the toilet, not the sink).
Oh, and you can hear the music from anywhere in the venue. Perhaps that helps explain why half the audience spent their whole evening at the bar. I wonder how the performers feel about that? On one hand it's always nice when people get close to the stage and pay attention and generally act like they're enjoying the music instead of just the beer. On the other hand, it is surely nice to know that the audience is actually much bigger than it looks. The floor in front of the stage wasn't packed at any point during the night, but another twenty or so people tuned in every now and then.
Nouvellas took the stage after a quick sound check and immediately found a weakness in the venue's sound system. Their roots are solidly in Soul music, but with heavy doses of rock-n-roll and a bit of country twang here and there (e.g. "Love Letters"). Many songs are highlighted by the vocal harmonies of lead singers Jamie Kozyra and Leah Fishman or a punchy but delicate guitar solo from the only guitarist, Dennis Pierce. These are the sorts of gems which mediocre sound systems tend to crush, unfortunately.
And so it was at Bruar Falls that night, at least at first. During the opener "Right Kind of Woman" I had a hard time hearing the vocals clearly. However, some fellows at the bar were apparently able to hear the lyrics clearly and seemed to enjoy them quite a bit. Either the room has serious dead spots or the sound check didn't get it quite right. Perhaps a bit of both?
I assume that the sound guy made a few more tweaks as the evening progressed, because the problem became worse, then improved. The audience slowly began to catch on. About halfway through the set Nouvellas broke through with a catchy cover of "Older Guys" by the Flying Burrito Brothers. Eddie Baraneck of The Sights seemed especially thrilled by that one. That was followed by their most rockin' original tune ("Satisfied") and the crowd was finally into it. At least the part of the crowd which was paying attention. The folks at the bar hardly moved a muscle.
Next up that evening was The Figgs, who had been playing pop music for longer than some members of the audience had been alive. Started in '87 as a four-piece, now performing as a three-piece, in between they wrote enough catchy tunes to fill a setlist. Their sound is reminiscent of 80s alternative pop bands such as The Plimsouls, Squeeze, and The Replacements, but a bit folksier. There were no more sound issues by the time they hit the stage, so all of their catchy, upbeat numbers sounded fine.
The best way to be a fun band is to play catchy, upbeat music. The second best way is to have a sense of humor. The Figgs seem to have figured this out. Certainly they're not afraid to get a little goofy. They're the kind of band whose members casually crack jokes with each other on stage. For example, at one point drummer Pete Hayes stood up and sang a song a capella ("I Got The Drums") about how a band's drummer should not be taken for granted. When he accidentally sang that he did not "play drums" (instead of "play dumb") he was (gently) mocked by the rest of the band. He also got ribbed in the closing song about a "certain" gambling addicted drummer ("Casino Hayes").
It was all in good fun. It was good fun. But of the three bands on the bill The Figgs excited me the least. Their songs too often lacked the rock-n-roll energy I was looking for. Good music to chill with on a Thursday night perhaps, but wedged in between an energetic soul band and an energetic rock-n-roll band was not quite the right place for these guys.
Headliners The Sights formed back in '98 when several members of the band were still teenagers. Performing at various times as a three-piece and a four-piece, they had a taste of success when their songs appeared on the soundtracks of a couple of major motion pictures. Despite this, they never broke into the mainstream like some of their peers (most notably the White Stripes). After taking a couple of years off they reformed as a four-piece and started touring again.
Sounding damn good for a band coming off a two-year break, The Sights mixed heavy rockers ("How Do You Sleep", "Guilty") with poppier numbers ("Don't Want You Back", "Maria"). The contrast between some songs was so great as to be a little jarring. Whereas most of their music channeled The Who, Big Star, and The Small Faces, "Maria" could have been performed by any number of mainstream singer-songwriters (or The Zombies). The song isn't bad, and gets bonus points for humor, but it seemed out of place. Must be a new one. I'd rather listen to them play more rockin' numbers like "Circus".
A good band needs to have good stage presence. In the case of The Sights, lead singer Baraneck provides most of the stage presence. Flailing about on all but the mellowest numbers, he claimed the audience's eyeballs over and over. Drummer Skip Donomme tried his best to steal our attention with his energetic pounding and wild shouting, bassist Dave Lawson's ghastly orange shirt contributed to the cause, and guitarist/pianist Gordon Smith... mostly just stood there and smirked at Baraneck. But it was no use. It is just too hard to compete with the guy who jumps in front of the other band members' mics or pulls the classic stunt of using a beer bottle like a capo.
Alas, at the end of the night there were still quite a few people at the bar. None of the music had inspired certain people to get off their seats, not even The Sights' most energetic garage-rock anthems. Was this the bands' fault, or does the bar feel like another world to those who are seated there? Did they feel, perhaps, as though they were sitting at home, with a beer, listening to the radio?
The Sights and Nouvellas will be teaming up again for a show at Cake Shop on Feb. 27th.
