Chickens Don't Get No Life after Death

Artist: Felice Brothers
Venue: 123 Pleasant Street
Location: Morgantown, WV
Rating: 4 out of 5 harps

Last night kicked off the summer of music concerts and festivals with a show by the Felice Brothers in Morgantown. The Felice Brothers play a perfect blend of rock, folk and bluegrass, and though I wasn’t too familiar with their music, I’d only heard good things about their live shows. The band consists of two brothers and a few friends who got their start playing in the subways of New York.

The opening act, Cassettes, featured a female lead singer, jamming keys player, a decent violinist and a cellist with awesome facial expressions. With good stage presence and original songs, the crowd seemed pumped and anxiously awaited the main act.

As the Felice Brothers jumped on stage, their appearance was initially shocking and took a good four songs with which to become adjusted. First off, the fiddle player looked terribly out of place with a flat brimmed Yankees hat, gold chained necklace, and straight up gangster vibe. But then he began playing with immense energy and excitement that reverberated from his bow. The lead singer and guitarist was probably the most entertaining. He walked on stage appearing to have a personal goal of out-drinking everyone in the audience. After throwing down the microphone in the second song, he struggled to pick it back up, and sadly the sound wasn’t quite the same the rest of the night. However, his scratchy soulful voice made each song jump alive while his electric guitar skills left a certain someone fairly jealous. The band was topped off with a nervous drummer, hipster bass player, and sweet keys/accordian player.

Sadly the sound quality of the show wasn’t up to par with the rest of the performance. The Felice Brother’s excellent stage presence, uplifting songs, and good sense of humor made for a great concert. They didn’t play the crowd favorite “Penn Station” however “Run Chicken Run” was easily a highlight of the night. “Whiskey in my Whiskey” and “Frankie’s Gun” were also crowd favorites and hopeful requests of this article’s author. During the band’s encore, the best dancer in the venue invited herself on stage and began shaking what her mother gave her around the band. One was never quite sure when she would fall or what she would do next, adding to the entertainment.

Overall, great performance by the Felice Brothers and definitely a band worth checking out! And a great start to the summer! Rock out.

"I drove here all the way from West Virginia." - humorous quote from a concert goer