[Video screenshot courtesy of D.F. Yonkman of Dead Elm]
From busking in NYC subway stations six years ago to selling out the Bell House two nights in a row this week, life for The Felice Brothers keeps evolving in a positive direction. Although they effectively got their start here in New York City, their sound and their approach are more informed by their hometown of Palenville, in the Catskill Mountains upstate. Their country-inflected rock is full of grit, with primary vocalist Ian Felice drawling out his lines in whiskey-drenched full throat, reminiscent at times of early Dylan, and brother James Felice adding meat to their delivery with his brawny vocals (plus his accordion, and piano work). The third brother, Simon Felice, left the band several years ago and tours on his own, but rest assured, the non-related remaining members of the band do an excellent job here, too. Their music isn’t prettified or trendy or arch; these are songs born for the barroom, suitable to a night of melancholy or getting ripshit with your oldest friends. Their lyrics brim with casual violence and the desolation of America’s darkest corners; a guy running an upstate meth lab might or might not listen to this, but these songs are often perilously close to his story.
These Brooklyn shows heralded the release of the band’s pathbreaking new record, Celebration, Florida (even the name of this central Florida planned town evokes something twisted). The new record takes a dramatic push beyond the basic strictures of the country/rock genome, incorporating such varied instrumentation as synths, a horn section, and drum machines, as well as some found sounds. The show kicked off with the first track from the album, “Fire At the Pageant,” and it was immediately evident that the new direction, while maybe a bit jarring at first listen, works to broaden the band’s palette without detracting from the raw, elemental sound that made fans fall in love. The band’s first new single, “Ponzi”, also demonstrated the new approach well, with its synth beats and politically current subject matter (you can probably guess from the title). Several special guests came out to show their love for the band, including former tourmate Conor Oberst on “Wonderful Life” (streaming below) and the searing finale, the fan favorite “Frankie’s Gun”, which also featured Deer Tick‘s Ian O’Neill and the opening act for the evening, South Carolina’s Shovels and Rope. The song, with the stage packed with musicians and friends of the band, was a fitting end to this first of two evenings in Brooklyn. Clearly, the Felice Brothers have plenty of friends here.
I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Bell House engineer Jeff, together with the Schoeps microphones. The recording is outstanding, and this audio will be featured in upcoming video footage from Dead Elm.
Special thanks to the band’s management, Ravenhouse Ltd, for inviting us to the performance!
Stream “Wonderful Life”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F1805FeliceBrothers0211/15 Wonderful Life.mp3]
Stream “Ponzi”:
[audio:https://www.nyctaper.com/F1805FeliceBrothers0211/06 Ponzi.mp3]
Direct download of MP3 files [HERE]
Direct download of FLAC files [HERE]
PLEASE DO NOT REPOST DIRECT LINKS TO EITHER THE MP3 OR FLAC FILES
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The Felice Brothers
2011-05-18
The Bell House
Brooklyn, NY USA
An acidjack master recording
Recorded and produced by acidjack for nyctaper.com
Equipment: Soundboard + Schoeps Mk41>CMC6>Sound Devices USBpre2 >> Edirol R-44 [Oade Concert Mod] (24/48)
Position: Clamp to soundboard booth, about 9ft up, PAS
Mastering: 2x24bit/48kHz WAV>Audacity (mixdown, downsample to 44.1kHz, set fades, tracking, amplify and balance, smooth peaks, downsample to 16bit)>FLAC ( level 8 )
Tracks [Total Time 1:21:46]
01 intro
02 Fire at the Pageant
03 Run Chicken Run
04 White Limousine
06 Hey Hey Revolver
06 Ponzi>
07 Take This Bread
08 Back In the Dancehalls
09 Got What I Need
10 Iron Mike
11 Honda Civic
12 Greatest Show On Earth
13 The Big Surprise
14 [banter]
15 Wonderful Life
16 Love Me Tenderly
17 Stepdad
18 River Jordan
19 [encore break]
20 Whiskey In My Whiskey
21 Frankie’s Gun
If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT The Felice Brothers, visit their website, and purchase their official releases directly from their web store [HERE]
Thanks!
Many thanks again !!
About time you guys recorded these local Catskill favorites. Strong work as always acidjack … superb recording indeed!!
Thanks so much for this…..great work. So glad to have this show recorded.
It really is about time. The band has been on my radar to record and post at nyctaper for years, but something has always gotten in the way. Hopefully, they’ll become regulars on the site.
man, these guys tore up the fucking stage in Toronto, awesome to hear them do the same versions of the songs they did then. some of the track names here are a bit confused though, for example Dallas is definitely Love Me Tenderly, for all those worried that that classic didn’t make the setlist that night by some wicked twist of fate.