If you are a fan of hypermelodic Pop/Rock and you haven’t heard or seen local group The Newbees (pictured), what are you waiting for? The perfect chance to check the band out comes this weekend with the release of a gorgeous CD package, Live @ The Southgate House. The two-disc set includes a “Look” DVD with video footage and a “Listen” audio CD recorded at a show at the Newport concert venue in November 2008.
The Live package is stunning on many levels. The packaging is top-notch, and the video/audio recording is amazingly pro. Put together with help from area production company Mind Ignition, the product itself stands as an equal to anything put out by a rich major label record company.
Then there’s the music — a diverse, dynamic Pop sound (influence from everything from Tin Pan Alley to vintage Americana to the Fab Four can be detected) that's delivered flawlessly. With their impeccable musicianship and vocal abilities, The Newbees sound better in concert than most bands do on their carefully constructed recordings. The strings that augment the songs are so spot on you’ll be convinced they had to have been added in post production.
As songwriters, Newbees members long ago proved to be among the elite in the region, and on Live the songs breathe and shine effervescently. The band fittingly works in some covers of classics in the Pop/ Rock realm, like their powerful, dazzling version of “I Am the Walrus” and a solid take on Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles hit “Maybe I’m Amazed,” sung brilliantly by vocalist/guitarist Misty Perholtz.
The Newbees celebrate the release of the project at York Street Café Friday. Guests include Nashville’s Michelle Hemmer, The Billy Rock Trio, Newbees keyboardist Jesse Jordan’s The Shirt and Tie Stiffs and The Bee Strings, the tight string ensemble that's on the CD and will play with the Newbees during their headlining set. (Show details here.)
More Local Notes
• Last week we gave you the low-down on the MidPoint Music Festival “reveal” showcase (April 23 at the Contemporary Arts Center, where many details about the September fest will be announced and Indie faves Aloha will headline). Now we can let you know that the first big headliner for this year’s “MidPoint Indie Summer Series” on Fountain Square is all signed up: Scotland Indie/Pop collective Camera Obscura will play a free show on the Square June 4 to get things started.
Remember, artists interested in performing at MidPoint have until April 1 to claim the early submission discount; May 15 is the drop-dead deadline. Get full details here.
• With the closing of restaurant fave Tinks Café (which might just be temporary), The Faux Frenchmen can no longer be heard every Monday night in Clifton. But the Gypsy Jazz band can now be heard every Wednesday evening in Clifton, as the Frenchmen recently picked up an every Wednesday residency at Sitwell’s Coffeehouse, just around the corner from Tink’s. The band is slated to play each week for free at 7 p.m. (Show details here.)
• “Earthquakes,” the monthly live-music-meets-DJ-music night at Mayday in Northside hosted by DJs Kendall Bruns and John Hogan, returns this Saturday. This month’s special band guest is Kry Kids, a new-ish Electro Rock band featuring Dave Rohs (ex-Chalk), Jeremy Lesniak (Culture Queer), Brendan Bogosian (Cash Flagg, The Tigerlilies) and drummer Brent Donaldson (Sistern, The Delusionals). The free event kicks off at 9:30 p.m. (More info at www.earthquakesmusic.com and www.myspace.com/krykids.)
CONTACT MIKE BREEN: [email protected]
