The calendar year 1999 was one of great upheaval and positive personal change in my life and of the few records that soundtracked that eventful year, The Pernice Brothers Overcome By Happiness was right at the top. The album was a breakthrough of sorts for Joe Pernice, whose previous project the alt-country Scud Mountain Boys had disbanded after one album on Sub Pop Records. Overcome was a master work of perfectly written pop gems that touched on elements of alt-folk and chamber pop, and was an album created among a fellowship of Joe’s best friends at the time, including his brother Bob. There’s a great piece in Magnet Classics that describes the making the album [here].
When it was announced earlier this year that the Pernice Brothers would be returning with a new album for the first time in nearly a decade, I revisited Overcome and twenty years on, the album definitely stands the test of time. So kudos to my 1999 self for recognizing its brilliance and for continuing to follow the band through five more excellent albums before the hiatus. We were also lucky to have caught them live several times last decade, including at Mercury Lounge in 2006, a show I recorded mere months before NYCTaper became a thing. That Merc show it ends up would be the last Pernice Brothers show in NYC for thirteen years until this month.
The new album Spread The Feeling is a remarkable return to form for Pernice Brothers. The wit, wisdom, and melancholy that pervades the band’s catalog is clearly present, but this time around Joe Pernice tackles a variety of new subjects, including the abusive priests, drug abuse, and fatherhood, in a batch of songs that seem to be flexing more musical muscle than the band’s previous outings — albeit with virtually the same set of contributors.
The handful of dates that were announced included a return to Mercury Lounge and we were so pleased to be there and be permitted to record. What transpired was literally exactly what we had hoped to see. The band was tight and in great spirits, and the setlist featured both a substantial number of tracks from the new album, a nice selection of classic tracks, a classic cover, and quite a bit of a hilarious banter. And the early set time allowed me to fully experience this event, pack up, and go a few blocks to also see the Luna show we posted earlier. Quite an unforgettable night.
Joe Pernice announced on his active twitter account that the band will return with dates in the new year, and we’re hoping that includes another NYC show.
I recorded this set with the Neumann hypers mounted next to the soundboard and mixed with an excellent feed by FOH Manny. The sound quality is superb. Enjoy!
Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]
Stream the Complete Show (minus banter):
Pernice Brothers
2019-10-20
Mercury Lounge
New York NY
Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix
Soundboard + Neumann KM-150s > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)
Please support this legendary band:
https://pernicebrothers.bandcamp.com/
http://pernicebrothers.com/
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
Setlist:
[Total Time 1:04:56]
01 [intro]
02 Eric Saw Colors
03 [band introductions]
04 Lullabye
05 [banter – first show]
06 Monkey Suit
07 [banter – thermometer]
08 The Ballad of Bjorn Borg
09 Something for You
10 [banter – are you high]
11 There Goes the Sun
12 Skinny Jeanne
13 I Came Back
14 [banter – Cardinal Law]
15 Always in All Ways
16 [banter – whisper]
17 She Don’t Care About Time [Gene Clark cover]
18 Baby in Two
19 Throw Me to The Lions
20 Mint Condition
21 Working Girls
22 [banter – Elvis]
23 The Weakest Shade of Blue
24 [non-encore break]
25 Somerville
PLEASE SUPPORT Pernice Brothers: website | buy Spread the Feeling on Bandcamp
Did you tape the solo opening set?
Yes, and Joe just approved posting it. So it will be up here soon.
Great! Thanks so much
Did you ever post the solo set?
Also been coming here often in hopes of checking out the solo set? (Just saying…)
Thanks so much! This was such an amazing show.
Such a great band! It’s a huge mystery to me why they never seemed to gain a following. Thank you.
Excellent! Outstanding sound! Thank you so much for sharing your work capturing this greatly underrated band.