When Brothers Past played The Tralf last September, Buffalo was what some might call cheated by the 2 a.m. slot. Fans were not able to get the full effect of the Brothers Past experience. Saturday night, Buffalo received exactly what it was looking for. With people slowly filing in to the dark gallows of Soundlab, opening act Jeff Bujak took the stage to get warm up the crowd. Bujaks rhythmic piano licks instantly got people moving and ready for whatever came to them that evening. With Buj done and a short break, Brothers Past was ready to take the helm. Tom, Rick, Clay and Tom, ascended from the hobbits layer which is the dressing room of Soundlab and manned their instruments. After some quick tuning, the band rolled right in to crowd favorite "Who's gonna love me now" and jammed out every last bit of the song. Next up was "State Police" off their album This Feelings Called Goodbye. A song exploring the absurd things people put each other through and the paranoia that comes with it. After only a few minutes in to the song, a bass line emerged that was instantly recognized by everyone in the packed venue. Radiohead's "National Anthem" rose out of the jam and BP put their own spin on this already dark song, sandwiched it around "Charity Starts at Home" only to come back full steam with the aforementioned "National Anthem" and finished out the set.
After a brief intermission, the boys were back for their second set. BP dove head first in to the set with a raucous "Red Rover" which began a three song segue. Personal favorites "Getaway Somehow" and "Can You Keep a Secret?" completed the triad of tunes. Some witty banter occurred on stage, as Tom Hamilton asked the crowd to serenade bassist Clay Parnell in singing Happy Birthday. The banter escalated a bit when Hamilton explained to the crowd that Clay wrote the next song while backpacking in Africa. Parnell, corrected Tom by informing him that it was Argentina. Hamilton, instantly fired back proclaiming "either way, he[Parnell] got aids." With the joking aside, they were ready to play again. "Tired Sigh" rang from Hamiltons vocals and set the pace for the end of the set. BP wove in and out of harmonic melodies that led in to a fast paced jam, which fused perfectly in to "A Wonderful Day". Every member of the band beat on their instruments to bring the second set in to a blissful ending. The band removed themselves from the stage, only to return instantly for an encore. With not much time to squeeze in one more song, "Too Late to Call" was chosen and seemed almost too fitting for the end of an amazing evening.
~cs
The absence of a live band drummer does not necessarily mean spoiling the excitement of any musical shows or worst to cancel the program. With the advent of computer technology that paved the way to the introduction of the computer drum machines, we could say - the show must go on and still at its best.
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