Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Stepping into History: Brett Dennen at the Fillmore





Saturday night at the Fillmore in San Francisco was anything but disappointing. Angus and Julia Stone opened well for Brett Dennen, who gave a very cool show. Even cooler was the venue itself. Pretty impressive. You could almost feel the history, as if Jimi Hendrix or the Jefferson Airplane might have walked in at any minute. The sound was great, too, although I needed earplugs. (Ah, the indignities of getting older...)

The balcony is lined with posters of past acts, and we were given a poster ourselves on the way out. It was raining, but my son put ours under his coat so they wouldn't get ruined. I haven't figured out what to do with mine, but I'll do something. (Too bad I'm not in school. It would have made the perfect book cover back in the day.)

Both of the Stone siblings were talented and original. Julia seemed to play every instrument known to man, and Angus (her brother) was pretty solid on the guitar, too. They took turns singing lead vocals, but Julia's voice was better for me, with a unique tone and texture. I enjoyed their funky, folky sound.

But Brett Dennen was beyond enjoyable. He sang for the shortest hour-and-a-half ever, and it was mesmerizing. The guy is definitely quirky, and his moves up there are kinda strange; but his lyrics and delivery are first class, and the slightly reggae flavor really works. There's just no one like him around, and I have a feeling he will be around for a long time to come.

=)

P.S. He opened with "Just Like the Moon" and closed with "Blessed." I hope you click on both and have a listen.

4 comments:

Kristin said...

Looks like fun!

Em said...

sue, i LOVE that you were at a rock concert. you are so hip;-)

jen said...

You never cease to surprise me. Rock concerts and poetry books. You're my hero.

Fiauna said...

Very cool!