Show Review

Dead Man's Bones - A+

Though there were some delays in actually getting inside the First Unitarian Church (apparently the band was late) on the cold and misty night that it was, once inside Ashley and I found this show to be one of the most unique and fun events we'd ever been to.

The event was emceed by a guy in a white sheet with a ghost mask and white cowboy hat who kept up a constant Peter Lorre impression. Though he eventually sang one song with the band, his act was mostly employed to announce the various talent show participants. Among them was New Jersey's own "Great Scott" the magician who was funny if not the most original, also a guy who fit himself through a wire hanger, some interpretive and tribal dance/stomp artists, and a group of three little kids dancing to a Sponge Bob song. Though some of these were rather awkward, I appreciated the Philadelphia audience's ability to keep it together and not boo or laugh anybody off stage.

Dead Man's Bones began their set by having St.Peter's children's (ages 7-15 probably) choir silently approach the pulpit from the two aisles of the church. Their faces were painted and they wore white robes. I thought it looked really cool. The set was basically every song from the album with the addition of a child-sung cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang." Though I'm sure a few girls stayed after the show to gravitate towards Ryan Gosling in his infinite celebrity glory, I was actually impressed with his ability to keep the show about his band, the music, and especially St.Pete's choir who had apparently also rushed on a bus to New York to fill in for a NY choir the night before. He seemed like an awkward dude anyway.

The only downside to the whole night was that t-shirts were priced at $25.00 which was exactly $12.00 more than the tickets themselves.


Up next: We see Dan Andriano (of Alkaline Trio) perform acoustically as his solo pseudonym The Emergency Room tonight at the Troc.

Here's Dan singing "Maybe I'll Catch Fire" accoustically on AK3's latest album: