Went to Ribfest on Saturday to check out the Deadstring Brothers. My parents came into town so I brought them along, unfortunately they decided to sneak off to a quiet bar with my cousins rather than check out the performance. My dad asked me prior to show what kind of music they play and I responded with something to the effect of “old school rock ‘n roll with a slight country twinge circa early 70’s Stones.” To which he said, “I think we’re gonna go to a bar down the street.” I think – aside from not falling under the category of a Stones fan – the performances were too loud for his taste.

The show was another solid outing the for the Brothers, playing a similar setlist to the one from Schuba’s back at the end of April. They once again pulled out Dylan’s “From a Buick 6″ and kicked off the show with The Band’s “Get Up Jake”. They played a number of songs from their two albums including “27 hours”, “Blindfolded”, “I’m Not a Stealer”, and a rollicking version of “Sacred Heart” to close the show. If you have any interest in seeing the Deadstring Brothers this summer they’re playing here in Chicago Friday 6/22 at The Beat Kitchen with Jason Isbell from the Drive By Truckers. I would probably be there myself if it wasn’t Bisenius’ damn wedding in LA.

After the show I met up the rest of fam at Cy’s just off the street fest. Believe it or not my parents were out until 1am, which was fairly astonishing to me seeing as they usually go to bed around 10pm.

You can tell my mom was working the camera for this photo.

I’ll keep this one short and sweet, not unlike the show itself. I’ve been waiting to see Deadstring Brothers for a while and was really impressed with the their performance Monday. The set consisted mostly of material from their two albums Deadstring Brothers [2003] & Starving Winter Report [2005], including “Sacred Heart”, “Blindfolded”, “I’m Not a Stealer” and “Toe the Line”. They also threw in a rocking version of Dylan’s “From a Buick 6″, The Band’s “Get Up Jake” which also appears on Starving Winter Report, and a Leon Russell cover for the encore.

The Deadstring Brothers are a throwback band – reminiscent of Exile on Main St-era Stones and early electric Dylan. They’re a six piece band with Kurt Marschke on guitar vocals, a second vocalist, bassist, drummer, keys and a second guitarist switching between pedal steel and electric guitar. The pedal steel is such a wonderful stage instrument, adding a whole new layer to a song. It’s a shame so few bands still use them but I guess when you get chance to see one that does it makes you appreciate it all the more.

I got the chance to say ‘Hi’ to Kurt after the show and it sounds like The Brothers will be back in Chicago at least twice this summer, playing Ribfest and also a show at The Beat Kitchen with Jason Isbell from Drive By Truckers. They’re a tight and lively band with great material – I highly recommend checking them out this summer.