Quick backstory: So we recently met some lovely new friends from the music networking group called Noise Collective NY. They were kind enough to invite us out to the Great Caesar show giving us the only details of “Their recordings don’t do them justice, you have to see them live” which at this point means absolutely nothing to us in that we haven’t even heard anything yet, but I do really like, and trust the judgment of all the Noise Collective NY kids, and believe me when I tell you, I haven’t been this excited over watching and listening to a band (that I’ve never heard before) perform live in over 10 years. Ok, enough of the bull shit, let’s get to the dirt already…
Great Caesar
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014 at The Glasslands Gallery
When the set first began, there was a great crowd in the audience that looked to spill onto the stage from afar. It turned out that there were a ton of people at the show and also a ton of musicians in Great Caesar which right off the bat can be a recipe for either the sloppiest, or the most well thought out musical arrangements. I’m very happy say they took the “well thought out” approach. The audience seemed to be focused mainly on John-Michael Parker (singer/guitarist) for the introduction of the set who seemed to be an ordinary guy in a suit with kind of avibe and a janky looking semi-hollow body guitar. As the set progresses I was to find that aside from his musicianship, I was even more blown away by the sincerity in his performance and every word he sang. It was a performance not only for the people, but also to the people.
As the crowd and band settled in to the first tune, horns came out of nowhere adding even another dimension to the already in depth arrangements. It was a perfect arch of an arrangement that climaxed at a huge, chanty, almost pirate like feel in 6/8.
The overall set had a great arch as well. The songs seemed to get deeper and more sincere as the performance unwound. By the band’s third number I was watching Rob Walbourne hit his drums with almost full baseball like swings. His energy seemed to infectiously spread to Mike Farrell (guitar) and then to the rest of the band until alas everyone came in triumphantly bring the song to an end.
The next song was announced as a new one, which was one of my personal favorite tracks of the evening. The crowd was mesmerized as these gentlemen combined eerie whispering with singing while forming the words “bury me down”. The snare sounded like a marching band as it built the song up louder and louder. John-Michael Parker veered off from the group to what seemed like a free flowing improv filled with soul. This was abruptly put to a halt by a purposefully placed random bari-sax “honk” that soon turned into a solo. What an entertaining roller coaster through the sound spectrum.
This next one was announced as another new one to be released soon as well which started off with Rob Walbourne on drums and John-Michael Parker on the newly added floor tom. The horns had some beautiful harmonies as the guitar complimented it with soft pulsing eighth notes.
The boys closed out the evening with the highly anticipated single “ Don’t Ask Me Why”. This track is very powerful and I will leave you with their latest music video for the track (below). Please be sure to see these guys for yourself if they’re ever in your neck of the woods, and in order to do that I suggest you follow them on: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram along with Noise Collective NY’s: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Cheers,
-Mike Abiuso
