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Live Show Review: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - 10/2/13

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Date:  October 2, 2013
Venue:  Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD

 Since I'd been working on my review of BRMC's latest album Specter At The Feast earlier this week, I thought it'd be appropriate to hit up their live show at Rams Head Live in Baltimore last night.  I had already attended their sold out 930 Club show in DC this past May, so I was pleasantly surprised by the smaller crowd this time.  In fact, it was an intimate affair by comparison, with plenty of room to move about, rock out, do a little air guitar, or sway and grind with a partner.    


Peter Hayes (left), Leah Shapiro (center), and Robert Levon Been (right)

Yeah, that's right, I had almost forgotten how damn sexy a BRMC show could be.  The focus of my Specter At The Feast album review was on the snotty rawk these guys do so well, but their repertoire is full of great slow jams like "Screaming Gun," "Shade of Blue," and new track "Fire Walker" that served to break up the screeching noise quiet nicely.  
Robert Levon Been (left) and Peter Hayes (right)
The band did play their requisite full throttle hits ("Conscience Killer," "Whatever Happened To My Rock 'n' Roll," and "Six Barrel Shotgun") but a mid-set reprieve with a lone Robert Levon Been on piano teasing out the elegant ballad "Promise" followed by Peter Hayes solo on guitar doing a fantastic acoustic version of "Some Kind of Ghost" was the highlight of the show.     

Robert Levon Been (left), Leah Shapiro (center), and Peter Hayes (right)

I had actually dissed "Some Kind of Ghost" in my Specter At The Feast review, saying it could've been reserved for a b-sides collection, but Hayes' minimal, bluesy dust-bowl acoustic rendition was totally arresting.  It garnered so much hollering and raucous applause from the audience that Hayes couldn't help but flash a rare smile at the song's conclusion.  Just a great moment - and certainly the best of the evening.  All in all a great show.  Can't wait to see 'em again.
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