Maura Kennedy (and Pete!)

We were really looking forward to seeing The Kennedys at The Burren in Somerville on March 30th, after the show had been postponed back in January in the middle of a snowstorm.  We've seen The Kennedys many times, but rarely in the last few years, and we like The Burren Back Room, so this promised to be a lot of fun.  We met at Redbones for a nice beer or two and then moseyed across the street to eat before the show.

Reminder that the main reason for this blog is to document and then remind myself (years) later what the evening was like, and what my subjective opinions of the experience were.  So please don't misconstrue my subjective remarks as criticisms of Pete or Maura Kennedy, who are both marvelous musicians and we've loved over the years.  They're a power pop duo of unequalled brilliance whose music has always had a shortcut to my soul.  But I was very disappointed by this evening.

The Back Room surprisingly only barely got half full ... maybe because this was a rescheduled show and so wasn't promoted as a normal show would be.  The opener was Tory Silver, who strummed a Stratocaster and had a cute little amp.  Good blues rock with some promise.

Pete was puttering around the stage doing setup while we ate and then very nicely came by the tables and asked us what we'd like to hear.  I told him River of Fallen Stars, and reminisced about hearing them do Orange Blossom Special into Purple Haze into Eight Miles High back at the Boston Folk Festival (at least 15 years ago, admittedly).  He said, "So a space jam then?"  I said yes, but that he and Maura should play whatever they wanted to play.

Pete shrugged and in that conversation and for the rest of the night seemed to me to be very subdued.  He's at least 50% of The Kennedys, and I've seen him do some things on guitar, ukelele, bass, sitar, etc. that have been beyond captivating.  And as great as Maura's voice is, his harmonies are essential to their sound.  But this show could have been billed, "Maura Kennedy (and Pete)."  Perhaps he was sick or preoccupied that night and again, I don't mean to criticize him, but he just didn't bring it.  And they didn't play a space jam, every song they did was quick and to the point as opposed to being an exciting excursion.  It was the shortest River Of Fallen Stars I've ever heard.

But Maura was in fine voice and they did an excellent cover of Dave Carter's When I Go, as well as an excellent version of one of their new songs, Cayenne In My Coffee.  And Maura's blue "gumbo" guitar just makes some excellent sounds, it's so deep and rich.  Pete was on a white Gretsch with a rose on the soundboard, and I wished he'd rock it a bit more.  They closed with one of their anthems, Stand, which is always empowering.

I spoke to Pete when he was cleaning up the stage and Maura was working the merch table, and told him how much I enjoyed his "30 Seconds At the Coffeeshop" columns.  And that I'd really enjoyed the one he did a few years ago about seeing the reflection of the Empire State Building from their apartment in New York.  He wasn't much in the mood for chatting.  It's very possible that part of his brain was wondering why they'd driven all the way to Boston and the next day had to drive all the way to Ohio(?) to do a perfunctory show for a handful of people.  It must be tough to be a travelling musician.