Last night I saw The Felice Brothers and Drive-By Truckers at the Mezzanine. I’m not much for reviewing concerts, but I will say that DBT rocked as usual and I was really, really impressed with The Felice Bros. I’m glad because I saw ex-Trucker Jason Isbell not too long ago and was disappointed. He was sick and did his best to push through the concert by chugging Jack Daniels between songs, but in the end I left Slims really let down. Thankfully Will Hoge was able to steal the show as the opening act.

The Felice Brothers’ album, Tonight at the Arizona, made our top 50 albums of 2007 list and I’ve been listening to them for months. While the album is laid back and somewhat serious in nature, their live performance is the opposite. They are full of wit, trade off vocals and instruments, kill dead spots by improvising Danish porn movie soundtracks, and play with unbridled energy on the verge of chaos.

They also will win over any crowd. I was at the show solo, listening to some folks around me say things like “These guys are pretty damn good.” Then a few songs later…”Who are these guys again? They kill it.” Then I couldn’t hear any other comments because everyone around was dancing.

They played some unfamiliar material as well. I got back home after a 40 minute drive to Mountain View and noticed that Team Love Records has a couple new tracks listed from their upcoming March 4 release. Find them at SXSW if you’ll be out there. I haven’t found any info on there whereabouts yet, but I’ll be sure to post if I find anything.

Felice Brothers - Frankie’s Gun

Felice Brothers - Wonderful Life

Old track from Tonight at the Arizona

Ballad of Lou the Welterweight

The Felice Brothers - “Her Eyes Dart Around”