The band:  The Flannery Brothers, probably the most toe-tapping/dance-inducing sibling act out of Bangor.

The date/venue:  Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 3:00 PM at the Kaleidoscope Children’s Museum in my hometown (Manchester, NH).  Though it was our second visit since they relocated from Concord, arriving at 2:30 didn’t allow sufficient time for exploration, and Rhys was too distracted to sit still for the show.  Geraldine sat through most of it.

Unfortunately for the Flannery Brothers, the “stage” is only about three inches off the ground.  Kids charging the stage wasn’t a huge issue (although the kid who wanted the tambourine got it), but there was no way for kids to get up and dance without blocking everyone who was seated.  And this show was meant for dancing.

The show:  They were a lot of fun.  A lot.  It was acoustic, with one guitar and sometimes a tambourine.  They were personable, with a fair amount of silliness.  And they played “Johnny B. Goode”!  Automatic +15 for Chuck Berry covers.

I took a video of their song “Sunglasses.”  The sound quality is pretty terrible.  They were playing in a huge open room.  I thought it sounded great when we were there, but my camera didn’t seem to think so.

The Music:  The Flannery Brothers debut album, Love Songs for Silly Things, came out last month.  The songs are fun and catchy, and—as I’m sure you’ve gathered from the title—typically silly.  There are none of those “moral” songs (e.g., it’s-really-fun-to-clean-your-room songs), nor “issue” songs (e.g., new-baby-sister songs), nor are they condescending (e.g., let’s-sing-about-farm-animals-because-that’s-something-kids-will-understand songs).  Theirs are the best kind of kids’ songs:  the this-is-genuinely-coming-from-us-but-will-appeal-to-you-too songs.  Add danceability and a large helping of humor, and you’ve got a can’t-lose album.

And I love that they’re local.

album reviews:
Dadnabbit

[ Posted in » Music Review Channel :: Outings + Events Channel :: Show Reports ]