I saw musicians smiling, heard multiple instrumentation that mixed bits of country, folk, Americana, and rock this past Friday night behind Hoboken's hotspot of Maxwell's. Montclair's Bern & the Brights, John Foti, and Julia Haltigan performed stellar sets that gave me a restored faith in the indie rock sounds in New Jersey, at least for Bern & John. Ms. Haltigan hails from NYC!
Bern & the Brights got the crowd going at close to 1 in the morning yet the crowd seemed pumped with enegery. The indie 5-piece tore throw a great set that was highlighted by the wonderful violin playing, facial expressions of the band notably singer Bern and smiles of Jose going away on the drums. The band genuinely looked like they were having a good time. On "Sleepless Aristotle" the compelling guitar groove got the crowd swaying from side to side with arms in the air and clapping (see below).
Bern also tried her hands at drumming and violinist Nicole played tambourine. The 6-minute long song was worth staying up past 1am and dancing around to. It's always impressive to see a band utilize various instrumentation in their song and this Montclair band has got it right. The songs are sweet and it's no wonder they've gained attention from RXP and opened for Butch Walker. They certainly have the groove as their website url says. Continuing on was another goodie called "Sangria Peaches." It's tough to classify this band, perhaps violin rock or something something, but "danceable romantic nerd rock" as the band's myspace seems accurate to me. The band closed with their song "Starchild."
Bern & the Brights is: Bernadette Malavarca on vocals and guitar, Catherine McGowan on acoustic guitar, Shawn Fafara on bass, Nicole Scorsone on violin, Jose Ulloa on drums.
Opening the show was Julia Haltigan who had a classic blues/soul feel with an Americana style. Her set included steel guitar, trumpet, mandolin, and harmonica. Her father played mandolin and harmonica, which is pretty sweet. The trumpet playing was well down to. You can hear the passion in her voice when she sings "won't you please, let me in," on the song "Knocking at the Door." The harmonies are nicely great on that one. What was cool about her set was she had slower and faster songs. It was refreshing to hear her play.
Next was John Foti complete with his accordion and varying instrumentation with a horn section to suit, at least toward the end of the set. It was great hearing a collision of instruments. There were nine people on stage at one point. This show was Foti's cd release for Everybody's Coming to Town. Early in the set he said he has always wanted his audience to snap their fingers and clap with him. The crowd would then participate in the next song. He sent out the song "Don't Wanna Work Know More" to those that, well, don't wanna work. The song had a nice ring to it singing through all the little things that you have to do and the agony with not wanting to go to work. The keyboard on this catchy tune provided for a nice flow and it was easy to get into. Foti and company closed off with a song about New Jersey. It was a fitting line-up and I recommened seeing all these acts live, they bring a something different to their performance.
Bern & the Brights have a few area shows coming up. They'll be in Kearny, NJ and NYC on Nov. 21 and then Passaic, NJ on Dec. 11 with The Ones & Nines and the Frozen Gentlemen.
See more pics below.
Julia Haltigan
Jon Foti
Bern & the Brights
Bern & the Brights were the best, they really know how to get a crowd going!! I wasn't really impressed with the first two acts, but waiting through them for Bern & the Brights was well worth the wait!!!
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