“It’s like Phish and Umphrey’s McGee just played a show together”
-overheard from a concert goer after the show.
That would be a great description of what happened on Friday night in Ocean Beach, CA at the hot venue in town, Winston’s OB. Los Angeles, CA based prog-jam band, Quactus partnered up with local OB favorites, Brothers Gow, for BG’s tour kick-off show. A pairing that both bands have been working on since BG moved to San Diego from Flagstaff, AZ a few years ago. Long over due and well worth the wait, the combination brought the heat, even though Quactus was running with what they call the “Core 4” set up, lacking keyboard player, Michael Russeck and percussionist, Keith Erickson.
After a delayed sound check, Quactus kicked off their set right around 10pm and dove right into a crowd favorite, “Fever Boy” followed by a Memorial Day nod with a cover of Jimmy Hendrix’s “Freedom”. That got the crowd out on the dance floor and the set didn’t stop their feet from moving. All the while, there was a empty set of keyboards sitting there, occasionally visited by lead singer/guitarist Seth Gordon. The band had announced that there would be some cross breeding between bands but not on what songs or when. Finally, as the recognizable drum intro to Bel Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” rang out, Gordon invites up the first of TWO guests, Alex Gow Bastine, keyboardist for BG. That ignited the crowd into a 90’s dance party flashback. Following that, Kyle Merrill, normally guitarist for BG, took his spot behind the keys and tackled the dancey Quactus original, “Wine”, whipping everyone into a frenzy. That closed it out as Gordon left everyone with a “Thank you, Ocean Beach! Fuck Yeah!” I couldn’t have put it better myself.
May 23, 2014; Winston’s; San Diego, CA:
Fever Boy, Freedom, Poinephobe, Cutting Corners, Mike’s Song > Esprit D’escalier, Might Be You > Poison*, Wine^
* with Alex from Brothers Gow on Keys
^ with Kyle from Brothers Gow on Keys
Quactus performs at Rosenthal Wine on PCH in Malibu, CA Saturday, May 31st and again on June 28th. They report that more dates are in the works.
Brothers Gow took the stage right about 11:30pm and dove into their set. Accompanied by Matt “MC6” Collier on the light board, BG gave the nearly packed house exactly what they wanted and more. Diving into some new material as well as some familiar favorites. Highlights for me was a 2001/Shakedown Street mash-up. The whole set was amazing and these guys are definitely a band you should go see if they come anywhere near you.
When all was said and done, a great night in San Diego with both bands. Either one would be worth way more than the $7.00 cover charge they asked at the door on Friday night. A true Phish (Quactus) meets Umphrey’s (Brothers Gow) pairing. It’s funny, I overheard Alex from BG speaking to the Quactus guys after the show and he said, “You know I saw you guys for the first time at Flag Brews (Flagstaff Brewing Company) many years ago and I’m not sure I was even old enough to be drinking. We (the band) love ‘Wine’, it’s like our favorite Quactus song, and were really happy we got to play with you.” Respect!
For more info:
Quactus. www.quactus.com
Brothers Gow. www.brothersgow.com
