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Event
THE DENNIS BRENNAN BAND with special guest LOVE LOVE (duo)
Wednesday 10/28 - THE NEW SEASON OPENS STARRING THE LEGENDARY...
DENNIS BRENNAN BAND (w/ Duke Levine, Kevin Barry, Richard Gates and Billy Beard)
with special guest: LOVE LOVE (duo)
Tonight's theme: TBD
$10 advance / $12 at the door
8:30 doors / 9:00 show
www.dennisbrennan.com
www.lovelovebostonband.com
The Dennis Brennan Band featuring Duke Levine Levine, Kevin Barry, Richard Gates and Mike Piehl (sitting in for Billy Beard) hit the first set with a new theme - as yet to be decided but it will most likely cull songs from recent themes including Iodine Brothers, Bakersfield, Memphis and Jack In The Pulpit. Then stay tuned for the fantastic Chris Toppin and Jefferson Davis Riordan of LOVE LOVE
The Dennis Brennan Band returns for the fall / winter season of Wednesday nights at The Lizard Lounge with the usual cast of incredible musicians but a few new new surprises! Look for frequent themes woven into their sets such as cities; Memphis, New Orleans, Los Angeles... or a style, Country, Knucklehead Rock, Garage...or a particular songwriter/s, Dan Penn, Goffin/King, Arthur Alexander, Ray Davies, Doug Sahm. In addition the band will mine much of the back catalog mixed in with the new material from the upcoming album later in 2016. As the band did last season, special guests open the second set each week with a short set.
DENNIS BRENNAN....
To the uninitiated, Brennan could be considered Boston's own Leonard Cohen or Elvis Costello. His songwriting is respected by critics and musicians alike. Not only adept with the pen, Dennis Brennan is a highly accomplished performer and is known for his ability to span musical genres, styles, and era's with ease. His emotive and passionate voice is comfortable tackling classic country and R& B as well classic jazz, rock and blues. But it's really Brennan's originals that have set him apart. The Chicago Sun Times described him as "A rootsy, hard-edged rocker with the barroom soul of the pre-Woodstock Graham Parker and the unsparing insight of a working class poet." It's a fitting description if ever there was one. To the initiated faithful who attend every show, Dennis and his band (which includes guitarists Duke Levine, Kevin Barry, Lyle Brewer, and Ian Kennedy on any given night along with the rhythm section of Billy Beard and Richard Gates) have etched so many indelible magical moments on the local collective conscious that they return each week to see what will happen next.
TONIGHT'S GUEST: LOVE LOVE DUO
After you spend a lifetime writing songs and playing in rock bands, and taking time out to raise a family, perhaps you should just be content indulging your "hobby" on weekends, occasionally pulling out your guitar from under the bed to entertain friends with well-worn classics or nostalgia-soaked pleasers. Maybe that's what you're supposed to do.
But Chris Toppin and Jefferson Davis Riordan just couldn't do that. Not after meeting each other anyway. Realizing an immediate and extraordinary chemistry, the two friends and sometime bandmates set about writing some of the best material of their careers, working first in Chris's basement and then, eventually, in their own studio. Along the way they became more than friends, and the band they created, LOVE LOVE, became the story of their own unfolding love: wonderful, turbulent, problematic, magical. They were both married (to other people) and they both had children. Initially they resisted, but as Chris likes to say, eventually "the universe had its way," and they were pulled into each other.
LOVE LOVE and its eponymous debut album is a lush, often darkly passionate mix of vocal-and-lyric-driven '60s and '70s-inspired rock, with two lead voices blending beautifully. The band's name reflects their musical inspirations, as well as the dualistic notion of love as both a saving grace and a dark passion. When pressed for style and genre, Toppin and Riordan say simply, "It's rock." But it is the undeniable blend of their two voices that distinguishes them. That, and their songwriting. "Both have serious writing chops," writes Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald. Unlike many of their musical generation, Riordan and Toppin are not comfortable simply reeling in the years. Though fond of their youthful, angst-fueled days, they are comfortable in their own skins and are very happy producing a more mature and complex version of their alt/indie ethos.
This is "not your father's indie-rock," writes Francis DiMenno of The Noise. Sitting nicely with acts like The Head and the Heart, The Lumineers, and Neil Young, LOVE LOVE also has an experimental side, as well as the determination to just write the best songs possible, whatever they may be. "Hits and risks, that's our motto," says Riordan.
More on DENNIS BRENNAN...
Music is in his blood and it shows not just in the impressive body of work, but in the workman like attitude he brings to the stage each and every time. It's what inspired J. Geils frontman Peter Wolf to remark, "The biggest challenge for any artist is to sustain and keep growing. Many musicians who stick with it can fall into a trap of becoming parodies of themselves. Dennis has always kept maturing, which is one of the hardest challenges, and that's why I always enjoy checking him out." It's also why band mate Duke Levine says "Dennis is such a strong performer, he never phones it in, and that means everything to a sideman. If Dennis is giving something that is amazing, then you'd better give it, too." Or as guitarist Kevin Barry says, "I have never played with Dennis when he gives less than 100 percent."
Dennis Brennan is a local treasure and he continues to impress and evolve. Do not miss your chance to see him... every Wednesday night right in your own back yard.
The Dennis Brennan Band performs two sets every Wednesday night starting at 9:00 (8:30 doors). Ticket price may vary from week to week.
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LocationThe Lizard Lounge (View)
1667 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 21 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
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