The lights go down for BRMC at the Bowery Ballroom, May 31 2007 (photo: Alexistheo)
This is one of those shows that I knew about, didn’t plan on going to but ended up at the show and loving it. Luckily, I managed to score a ticket to this sold out show on the day of. I have been listening BRMC since Take Them On, On Your Own but (now in hindsight) made the mistake of never going to see them live. Their performance is tight, energetic and full of southern blues influence.
The show must have been at least 2 hours long. After ripping through the new Baby 81 tracks and some old classics, Peter Hayes followed by Rob Been performed an intimate solo/acoustic blues set. During Rob’s performance of Mercy, he asked that all lights be turned off; “This is a small song for a big place”.
After closing with my favorite track from Baby 81, All You Do Is Talk, the band returned to a roaring audience and asked for requests for their encore set. I heard a lot of people shouting White Palms but the band opted to play some other fan favorites. For Steal A Ride, a Howl B-side, they noted that this was the first time they had performed it live; “This is some rockabilly”. The encore ended with a fantastic performance of Going Under.
As I had predicted after hearing about two shows on the west coast, Rob gave away one of his Epiphone Jack Cassady bass guitars to a fan in the audience after the encore ended. I’m assuming that Gibson is helping the band out, considering their album cover for Baby 81 is somewhat of an advertisement for the guitar maker. Either way, I’m envious of whoever walked away with the bass.
setlist:
Took Out a Loan
Berlin
Lien On Your Dreams
In Like The Rose
Ain’t No Easy Way
Weapon of Choice
Whatever Happened To My Rock ‘N’ Roll (Punk Song)
Stop
Windows
Not What You Wanted
666 Conducer
Need Some Air
American X
Fault Line (solo, acoustic)
Devil’s Waitin (solo, acoustic)
Mercy (solo, acoustic)
Awake
Red Eyes and Tears
All You Do Is Talk
Rifles
Spread Your Love
Steal a Ride (first time performed live)
Shuffle Your Feet
Going Under
I was just listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - All You Do Is Talk