O'Death w/ Brown Bird and The Proud Flesh BAR 1/25/12

Another winner lineup for Manic Productions. Caught the last couple tunes of The Proud Flesh. RI's Brown Bird (See Cafe Nine review a few posts ago) kicks it again. With civil war era beard, Brown Bird has the two-person americana down slow dirges and uptempo hoots with excellent harmony vocals were great. Headliner O'Death from Brooklyn were high energy. Guitar, ukelele, trombone, bass, drums, and frenetic fiddle created a lot of sound for this packed house. O'Death frontman had the Abe Lincoln beard too! Glad to have these free shows back at Bar, always inspired listening.

Eleanor Friedberger w/ John Wesley Harding 1/7/12 The Outer Space Hamden

First time at the alcohol-serving Outer Space (which is across the parking lot from the all-ages Space) to see Fiery Furnace vocalist Friedberger and Brit-folkie Harding. Unusual pairing and was hard to see if they were romantically or use artistically linked. Eleanor's rough-edged singing which is a trademark sound of the Fiery Furnaces was sanded down a bit for this coffee-house type setting. The house was packed for a Saturday night and while it was difficult to see the stage from the bar, I could see this venue hosting some good shows. After Hamden, these two were off to Australia for some winter festivals