I Scene It: The Barry Brothers, The Sadies, St. Phillip's Escalator

By Frank De Blase

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Man, you should of heard those Sadies go, go, go. Water Street Music Hall (the club side) was packed with the wintery wounded and weary to hear these tenacious Toronto roots rockers lay it down with a matchless, venomous attack. I've seen The Sadies at least a half dozen times and have to say this show was the best, taking fistfuls of psychedelic garage, honky-tonk, surf, and rock 'n' roll and dishing it out with a big -- but not brutal -- volume. The Good Brothers done good. Looking sharp in their Nudie suits, the band took the stage with little fanfare; just plugged in and peeled out. This is a band's band.

Show openers, The Barry Brothers, rocked it southern-style despite its nearby roots. The band burned hot, Allman Brothers style, and gave it a rock 'n' roll giddy-up which had the-ever-swelling crowd hollering for more. It was big and swingin'.

After The Sadies wrapped, I slipped and slid like a hockey puck over to Skylark Lounge to witness the next generation of rockers run with the torch. The Absolutes -- trimmed down to guitar, keyboard, and drums, straight-up put my head in a bag with its blues-based, 1960's tinged rock 'n' roll. It's as if the band pulled out a rock licks thesaurus that rivaled Ten Years After's closing set at Woodstock. Mostly original, The Absolutes got the joint jumpin' in a slow-rolling boil with a killer take on some Ray Charles.

By the time the band relinquished the stage to St. Phillip's Escalator, it was clear that the night time is in fact the right time to be with the one you love. SPE swirled and soared hot and heavy, like a prom date, tearing through a set that highlighted material off its new "Elevation" EP as well as earlier stuff and a nod to the late Johnny Winter.

One more automotive slap-shot and we found ourselves at The
Bug Jar, eager to dig Eddie Nebula's new joint, Dark Nemesis. We got there just in time to hear how great the set -- that we just missed -- was. I have to catch the band soon. Dig my review of Dark Nemesis' new CD in the meanby.