The Tressels Concert Review from the Blockley Pourhouse in Philadelphia
One of our favorite local bands, The Tressels, have been off in Tresselmania recording their newest album Bourbon Legend. They decided to have an album release party at the newly minted Blockley Pourhouse near the University of Pennsylvania's campus.
The Pourhouse must be the only townie bar near the campus. There were not a lot of students of UPenn there...or if they were I shudder for the future of this great land. Just take a look at this wise old sage.
The Blockley had an interesting set up. The place was laid out horizontally, with the bar in the middle. There were tables in front of the bar and on the right side of the bar. Then behind the bar was a"dance space" and the modest stage.
The reason I like the Tressels is they have an energetic live show. They know how to get the crowd into it. They understand how to pace their set (mixing up the tempos of the songs) and have fun songs to back that all up.
Have you ever gone a year without sex? If you have you understand my analogy here. The anticipation I had for this show was high. I was thinking about it all week. I was excited to see the band back on stage, hear the new songs they took their time recording and writing, and see how that time off has changed the band (if at all).
And just like sex or riding a bike, the band didn't forget how to do it.They jumped back into the live setting without any problems. They were a bit restrained, but could that have been nerves, growing up, or a combination of the two?
The Tressels music has the ability to make people spontaneously make out, hook up, and get pregnant. These two love birds met on the dance floor and proceeded to suck each others face off as if the cure for Vampirism was hidden deep within the others mouth.
On one of the new tracks, it was nice to hear Big Dirty jump on the vocals for a full song. His vocal skills are generally reserved to backing up Butch. Backing vocals allow Big Dirty to show off his patented guitar face and carefully constructed guitar poses.
My personal favorite of the band is Black Houdini, whose bass lines are so thick women come to the show just to feel them. The power grooves allow antsy, rhythmless white boys to appear to be tapping their foot to the groove. He is also the one who interacted with the crowd the most on this particular night.
The usual rauceous one, Mickey Reds, was strangely tame this evening.He is usually the one taking his shirt off and really giving the percussion (tambourines and shakers) his all. He did, but he wasn't as interactive as he normally is. I will blame this on first night jitters.
The new songs sounded great live and breathed life into the older tunes. You could tell The Tressels were glad to have new material to showcase...and from the sound of the recording process, glad the record is out. I will also have a full review of their new album Bourbon Legend within the week.
Until then, check out The Tressels' MySpace page and regular site to purchase Bourbon Legend or check out any upcoming shows. As with all our pictures, if you click the picture you will jump to a larger version.
The Pourhouse must be the only townie bar near the campus. There were not a lot of students of UPenn there...or if they were I shudder for the future of this great land. Just take a look at this wise old sage.
The Blockley had an interesting set up. The place was laid out horizontally, with the bar in the middle. There were tables in front of the bar and on the right side of the bar. Then behind the bar was a"dance space" and the modest stage.
The reason I like the Tressels is they have an energetic live show. They know how to get the crowd into it. They understand how to pace their set (mixing up the tempos of the songs) and have fun songs to back that all up.
Have you ever gone a year without sex? If you have you understand my analogy here. The anticipation I had for this show was high. I was thinking about it all week. I was excited to see the band back on stage, hear the new songs they took their time recording and writing, and see how that time off has changed the band (if at all).
And just like sex or riding a bike, the band didn't forget how to do it.They jumped back into the live setting without any problems. They were a bit restrained, but could that have been nerves, growing up, or a combination of the two?
The Tressels music has the ability to make people spontaneously make out, hook up, and get pregnant. These two love birds met on the dance floor and proceeded to suck each others face off as if the cure for Vampirism was hidden deep within the others mouth.
On one of the new tracks, it was nice to hear Big Dirty jump on the vocals for a full song. His vocal skills are generally reserved to backing up Butch. Backing vocals allow Big Dirty to show off his patented guitar face and carefully constructed guitar poses.
My personal favorite of the band is Black Houdini, whose bass lines are so thick women come to the show just to feel them. The power grooves allow antsy, rhythmless white boys to appear to be tapping their foot to the groove. He is also the one who interacted with the crowd the most on this particular night.
The usual rauceous one, Mickey Reds, was strangely tame this evening.He is usually the one taking his shirt off and really giving the percussion (tambourines and shakers) his all. He did, but he wasn't as interactive as he normally is. I will blame this on first night jitters.
The new songs sounded great live and breathed life into the older tunes. You could tell The Tressels were glad to have new material to showcase...and from the sound of the recording process, glad the record is out. I will also have a full review of their new album Bourbon Legend within the week.
Until then, check out The Tressels' MySpace page and regular site to purchase Bourbon Legend or check out any upcoming shows. As with all our pictures, if you click the picture you will jump to a larger version.
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