"Take this bread, if you need it friend, 'cause I'm alright if you're alright. I ain't got a lot, but all I got, you're welcome to it. 'Cause I'm alright if you're alright." ~the felice brothers

The Felice Brothers. What do I say about The Felice Brothers? First of all, I love them, and I'm so glad I got to see them live at Webster Hall. Nic and I got a spot dead center in the front row (I got there pretty early), so we had a perfect view. I'm a huge fan of the band, and I was excited to see what they would play. Their sound has changed a lot recently; their newest album, Celebration, Florida, sounds very different from their previous albums to me. I do like Celebration Florida (it grew on me), and I was happy with the songs from that album that they chose to play. Those songs definitely work well in concert; they're louder and faster and harder than most of the band's previous material ("Fire at the Pageant" was a particular highlight). I was happy that they still played a lot of earlier songs; they did a lot from their self-titled album. I wasn't thrilled with how a few of those earlier songs sounded, though. "The Big Surprise" has been reworked, and I much prefer the album version; that's one of my favorite songs, and the live version disappointed me. I wish they played more from Yonder is the Clock, my favorite album of theirs, but I wasn't expecting them to. Although it did disappoint me to know that they played "Boy From Lawrence County" earlier on this tour but not at the show I went to (I LOVE that song). Oh, well. They were definitely focusing on riling up the crowd and letting loose; in fact, the boys seemed pretty crazy. At one point Christmas actually walked off the stage and returned a couple of minutes later, they crashed into each other multiple times, and I think there were a few forgotten lyrics. But I didn't mind; it just added to the energy in the room.
I did film the show, so here are my favorite moments, and the entire playlist is posted at the bottom.

This was my favorite moment of the show. "Frankie's Gun" is one of my favorite songs. I know it like the back of my hand; I could sing it in my sleep (and who knows, maybe I even do). Being able to see them play it live and to sing along was amazing. The live version is a little more upbeat than the album version, and it works for this song. Yelling along with lines like, "Turn the goddamn radio down!" and "I hurt him so damn bad I had to hide in Jersey!" was cathartic. You can hear me in the video, and I don't care; I was having too much fun to restrain myself.


"Take This Bread" was another great singalong. This is the song that I haven't been able to get out of my head since the concert.


They gave Jersey a shout-out and covered Bruce Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town" in the encore and it was beautiful.


"Saint Stephen's End" is a gorgeous song, and seeing Ian and Christmas play it alone onstage together was a wonderful respite from the high-energy chaos that pervaded the show. I'm so glad I got to hear it live.


From "Saint Stephen's End," they launched right into "River Jordan," my favorite track from Celebration Florida. It was a surprisingly smooth transition, and "River Jordan" was a perfect closer to the main set.


Overall it was a fun, rollicking show and I had a blast. Here's the entire playlist (you can watch all the songs in a row, scroll through to find what you want by clicking on that rectangle to the left of the 360p, or open it in youtube where you can play it in HD):