Mobile
Monday, November 29, 2010
Photos / Live Reviews / News Live review: The New Familiars
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 11:06 AM
The New Familiars w/ The Black Lillies
Visulite Theatre
Nov. 26, 2010
The Deal: Charlotte's The New Familiars return home for show at the Visulite along with Knoxville's The Black Lillies.
The Good: The Black Lillies offered the perfect warm-up for The New Familiars, with its brand of country-rock that fit right into the vein for the evening. They offered some mellow songs along with a few danceable numbers that got the crowd going.
The New Familiars hit the stage and it was easy to see the comfort that the quartet has when performing and the energy that being in front of a hometown crowd can bring forth. Mainly focused around the mandolin of Justin Fedor and guitar work of Josh Daniel, it's easy to hear the driving beat from Daniel Flynn and bass work of Pat Maholland.
The band sprinkled in newer songs like "All in All" and "In Love with the World," along with the older tunes, such as "Got This Disease." While they've undergone a few lineup changes over the years, it's the band's consistently solid songwriting that keeps them on the straight and narrow and continues to grow their fanbase.
If you haven't seen them in a few years, the results might surprise you. While early incarnations of the band drew many comparisons to The Avett Brothers because of location as much as acoustic instrumentation, the band has developed into something stronger and grown comfortable in its latest format. They've ditched some of the acoustic in favor of electric on some tunes, but not in a way that's overwhelming. The band uses the electric bass and guitars in a way to bring a new tone to the music instead of overpowering what they set out to accomplish.
They haven't let lineup changes deter them from doing what they do best. If you have a solid song written, the instrumentation will do the best to highlight that. Daniel's energy in vocals pays complement to Fedor's smoother style that gives the band an even deeper dynamic.
The night wrapped up with a series of encores of cover songs that included "Take Me Home" by Phil Collins, "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd and "Baba O'Riley" by The Who, which included The Black Lillies and guitarist Keith Allen of The Mantras.
The Bad: Don't recall hearing a personal favorite, "The Storm," but I only noticed a few days later. The two-hour set left fans completely satisfied. ... Still waiting on that new album, too.
The Verdict: The New Familiars get better every time I hear them and have truly sunk into their brand of music like a comfortable chair. Welcome home, fellas. Welcome home.
Speaking of...
Latest in Vibes
-
Chvrches ups the energy
Oct 17, 2018 -
Florence & The Machine offer a vocal showcase in Charlotte area
Oct 4, 2018 -
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends entertain with wit, classic arts
Oct 2, 2018 - More »
More by Jeff Hahne
-
Chvrches ups the energy
Oct 17, 2018 -
Florence & The Machine offer a vocal showcase in Charlotte area
Oct 4, 2018 -
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends entertain with wit, classic arts
Oct 2, 2018 - More »
