I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 10, 2016] The Family Crest

The Family Crest are a seven-piece band with horns, strings, guitar, keys and great vocals–mostly courtesy of Liam McCormick–but the backing vocalists are pretty awesome too.

I first saw them on a Tiny Desk Concert and they blew me away–watching McCormick wail “Beneath the Brine” gave me (and still gives me) chills.  I followed them on social media and they sent out Christmas postcards to everyone on their mailing list, which I thought was really cool.

So when I heard they were coming to Philly (and at Boot and Saddle no less), I knew I had to go.

I’ve said a lot about the intimacy of Boot & Saddle from previous shows, but this one was especially fun because when I went up to the merch table to check out their goods, keyboardist Laura Bergmann was the one selling the merch.  I also discovered that they had out an older EP that I didn’t know about, so that was cool.

The band came on stage and while everyone was warming up, McCormick came through the audience to the stage–no back room, so they just walk through the crowd.

Their new EP Prelude to War (with the very cool, kinda discoey single “Mirror Love” (see the trippy video here)) had just been released, so they played most of it.  There was some funny banter about who had listened to the whole EP yet (I just bought my copy there).  Bergmann admitted that she herself hadn’t listened to the whole thing straight through yet.

All of their songs are packed with full band arrangements and very cool loud and quiet dynamics.  I couldn’t believe how great the band sounded and how tight their starts and stops were.  Countless times throughout the show, the band would all silence abruptly while Liam played his acoustic guitar and sang gently.  And then they would build up again and again allowing the vocals to soar to really impressive heights (the band said they were all getting over colds, but he still sounded tremendous).

I’d only heard Sparks a few times, but man it sounded great live–I loved the ending where the band all sand together.  And I really enjoyed hearing the new songs–it was a cool introduction to them.  And the amazing Battle Cry, is a huge favorite.  But I was really excited to hear songs from Brine in person  And they did not disappoint, playing seven of the 12 songs.

I just loved the way you could hear the violin (Owen Sutter) and the trombone George Samaan–it was amusing watching him try to move around with that massive trombone in that small space.  The band was mixed perfectly and The World sounded lovely.  When they launched into “Beneath the Brine,” the crowd went crazy.  It was really fun being in front of Charly Akert on cello.  You don’t often get to see a cello out front, but since he starts the song, I was positioned perfectly.  It was as good as I’d hoped.  And to hear McCormick hit those high notes brought chills all over again.

Speaking of the great sound, hearing Bergmann’s flute so clearly was a real treat.  She played flute off and on, and it always added a nice touch.

There is a great example of them going from quiet to loud and back again in this clip from She Knows My Name.

And “Mirror Love” was so much fun–so dancey and bouncy–full of cowbells!

For this show they had a new drummer–Charlie Giesige–who they said had only learned the songs recently.  He was really spot on with those time changes and sudden stops.

While the band tunes, Bergmann provides some banter.  She told us how Liam and bassist John Seeterlin write most of the songs and then work in the studio all night long. Then they call her up at 4AM and say how does this sound.

They ended the set with a stellar rendition of “She Knows My Name.”

We were left in awe, wanting more but being really satisfied.

As the show ended and they walked off the stage, a sweaty McCormick walked right past me, saying excuse me as he went.  Gotta love Boot & Saddle.

 

• Dancing
• The World
• Sparks
• Beneath the Brine
• Can You Stay
• She Knows My Name
• Battle Cry
• William’s Dirge/Howl
• Love Don’t Go
• Mirror Love
• Make Me a Boat

italicized songs from Prelude to War.

Incidentally, one of th eband members sent me the set list via Instagram.  Here’s his comment:

Dancing, World, Sparks, Brine, Can You Stay, Name, Battle, Dirge/Howl, LDG, Mirror, Boat. — Though Mirror Love might be before or after Battle instead. We’ve been changing where we put it each show.