Chumley's

After spending the night roaming the halls of the hotel, we finally retired to our rooms and got some sleep. We woke up reasonably early, only to see it was still snowing, and snow emergencies were in effect for the entire area. The NBC10! show was apparently not happening, as they continued with more snow coverage - the roads were near impassable at that point anyway.

After a bit, we ventured out and began to roam the halls again, going back and forth between friend's rooms in each of the two hotels. We pretty much toured the entire place, from the theme rooms upstairs, to the conference rooms below. From the health club to the gift shop, we saw everything. Around noon, we gathered in the now empty convention center, for an impromptu didg jam of all the Brother fans we could dig up - the huge hall had a great reverb.

We adjourned to grab some food at one of the only open restaurants in the place, only to see once we entered, that the Brother crew was eating there also. There were some silly run-ins around the buffet table, and soon word started spread that Brother might be planning a show for that night, for the stranded travelers. The restaurant had a nice stage set up, so we thought it might be a good spot. We watched from afar as Hamish and Angus talked to the owner, but quickly departed as to not intrude.

Spent the afternoon watching the snow continue to fall, checking the forecast, and hearing trickles of rumors that this show might really happen, not in the restaurant we had been in earlier, but a smaller pub called Chumley's. T and DidgeriDrew braved the crazy road conditions to make an emergency trip for supplies, since there were two infants stuck among the fans in the hotel, and diapers and formula were running short.

Early evening, the word came down, and as Hamish said in his road diary, the fans were standing by to paper the place with flyers to advertise the show. Once the entire before-show crazy running around was done, we approached the bar, only to find it was already overly crowded. We snuck through those waiting for tables, and spied some fellow Brother fans and secured some spots on the floor right up front, as the Brigadoons we playing a nice set.

Celtic Soul came back and did another outstanding show, bringing lots of cheers from the crowd and gathering lots of new fans. Through the windows, we could see Brother arriving in the lobby, and they soon started to set everything up. Amazingly, everything fit into the tiny space, and the guys began to play.

Crazy
Sweet
Fragile
Good
Unk, with Wayne from the Wicked Tinkers
Jam into Shadowman, with Lori from Celtic Soul

Bitch
Superstition, with Lori
Clumsy, with Wayne
Funny Random stuff, then a Hoe-down with Lori
Lean on Me
Kashmir
Believe

Lori was with the band for most of this set, I just took those specific songs off my notes.

Hamish was wearing the tie-dyed heart shirt; black leather pants and started the show with the yellow beanie. Angus was dressed in a dark blue long sleeved shirt, with white prints on it, and jeans. Rick was wearing his tan winter hat again, with tan pants and a dark shirt on top. Dez was wearing an open necked beige linen shirt, with jeans, and T was dressed in a blue short-sleeved button down, with jeans.

The guys started off the night with an extended jam into Crazy, as they played around with the sounds and drew the crowd in. Hamish was playing the blue didg, and Dez was jamming along in the background with his harmonica. Angus' bass and T's drums led the jam along, and it slowly evolved into Crazy. After a few guitar licks from Rick, the familiar melody was heard, bringing cheers and bubbles from the crowd.

The whole vibe to the song was mellow, as the guys once again extended the breaks between the verses. After some great didging from Hamish, Angus began the second verse accompanied by only drums and didg. Through the end of the song, where it's repeated over and over "you can make me crazy, you can make me strong, but in the end I'm just like anyone" there were some great "oooh's" which filled out the song. Hamish picked up his bagpipes to cheers and finished out the song with several repetitions of the bagpipe line.

After a few checks of the sound system, drink requests and some discussion among the band, Hamish handed off his guitar to Angus, and they started Sweet Time. Hamish had his didg, and they slowly built into the song, adding one instrument at a time. The harmony between the Richardson brothers is amazing. At one point, Angus was repeating part of the verse "when you come around" and Hamish came in underneath with a harmony on "in your own sweet time". This slowly came together as they passed the line back and forth, Rick came in with some great chaotic guitar, and it suddenly dropped of to just Angus's guitar line, and he and Angus harmonizing on "in your own sweet time." The great harmonies continued till the end.

Hamish asked if we were all feeling all right, and Dez asked how the sound was, if it was too loud. We all called out that it should be louder. Rick started to play the beginning melody from Fragile, soon T joined in, along with clapping from the crowd. Angus came in on bass next, and Hamish rounded out the sound with his guitar part. Fragile was full of power at this show, and the harmonies were spot on. I'm not sure if it was because of the small room, but the harmonies between Hamish and Angus were a real highlight of this show for me.

Hamish was once again playing the blue didg, as Angus was repeating, "I'm so fragile". He changed it out to be "I'm so fragile, when T's here", and continued to improvise on the line, coming down into "oh, oh's". Rick brought them back around to the original line, and they finished out the song, rocking through the last chorus, ending on "I don't mind".

After the song, Hamish addressed the crowd with "Meddle thee not in the affairs of dragons, for ye art crunchy. And good with tomato sauce." He then thanked us all for being there, and after some tunings, they started Good.

Dez began with some repeated notes on the keyboard, accompanied by Hamish. Rick then came in with his wailing guitar to start off the song. Hamish and Angus were singing with power, but with a cautious tone of voice, which made the beginning of the song feel restrained, making you want more. Hamish came in with the bagpipes for the break, then the guys paused for almost 8 beats, building even more anticipation and then came in without any restraint. We all were singing "it's all good, it's alright, it's ok" and the guys kept throwing out comments at the end of the lines like "how good is it", "yes, it is" and "it's all that, and a bit more!" The song ended with some cymbal rolls, and guys vocalizing out over the lines of the song.

Rick asked if Wayne from the Wicked Tinkers was in the house, and he came up to the front with a bodhran. Hamish picked up his didg, and Angus grabbed Hamish's pipes. From the melody that Rick was playing, along with the drums, which the crowd couldn't help but clap along with, you knew that the Unknown was next.

Angus launched into the melody, and with the didg and added drum, it took on a very tribal feel. Rick picked up the blue didg halfway through, and we were treated to an intense musical experience, with Wayne on the bodhran, T pounding out the beats, Dez adding in harmonica lines, Hamish and Rick with dueling didges and Angus vocalizing over the top. After a yelled "one, two, three four", everyone came back around together for finish the song.

Rick idly played the beginning to Shadowman, and Hamish called out for Lori from Celtic Soul to join them up front. Angus vocalized above Rick's melody and soon joined in with his bass, after a few bars, playing the new bass line. Lori came up with her fiddle and as she was getting set, Hamish sang along with the new repetitive bass line with "dah da dah, dah da dah", with Dez on the harmonica in the background. Once Lori was set, she started to improvise along with what the guys were playing. The improv session went on, with T and Angus giving the beats, keeping everyone together. Lori continued leading the improv, creating new melodies overtop of the bass line. Rick picked up the blue didg, and played that for a while, and then the jam slowly worked itself in Shadowman.

Angus began singing "I see you" over and over, joined in harmony by Hamish. All the instruments dropped down as Hamish began "I see you live by your charm." Hamish got through the first part of the verse, and then asked everyone to bring it down, so we could hear what he was hearing. There was a speaker directly above where the band was set up, and Hamish lifted up the mic so that we could all hear the high twinkling Celtic music that was coming out. Angus said, "imagine keeping time with that going on" which cracked everyone up.

The music went away, and the guys continued with Shadowman. Hamish sang the verses very low, which Angus joining on a higher harmony, which added with the bass line, gives the song a more menacing quality. In the break between the verses, Rick took Lori's bow from her, and started to play her fiddle, as she fingered the notes. He drew the bow quite quickly, but she kept up well, and they created an interesting melody together. Dez picked up his harmonica, and Rick went back to his guitar. Somewhere along the line Rick had everyone playing on the Batman theme song and played some great '70s guitar riffs. After this extended jam session, Angus came back in with the repeated line "I see you", joined by both Hamish and Rick. Hamish continued on the verse, low and almost monotone, with bass and drums only. Then on "can't hide yourself anymore", Angus joined in with almost a scream, Rick started playing again and they finished the song with total abandon.

The guys then took a break, and let us all recover from the amazing set. During the break, the bar owner must have gotten a hold of i you you me because the music starting pipes through the overhead sound system. Since we had tons of bubbles nearby, a few of us started blowing them when Crazy started playing.

After a relatively short break, the guys slowly started to appear again. The second set was more of a random jam session than anything else. Rick played around with random 70'S guitar riffs, accompanied by T and Angus at points. Lori was back with the guys, and as she was tuning up, Rick started playing Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, very quickly and technically. So, Dez asked, "Somebody shout out a key and let's play a song." The crowd started calling out for Bitch, which I think cracked the guys up - we heard someone say, "who are you calling a bitch?" Dez then said, "Be-otch, be-otch is on the table, ladies and gentlemen." Hamish started to play the beginning to So Familiar, but they quickly moved into playing Bitch.

As Rick played the beginning melody, Hamish asked, "Is everybody having a good time? Is everybody glad that they're here? Where else would we rather be?" All three statements were responded too with cheers from the crowd. At the beginning of the song, Angus was singing "oooh's" lightly over the melody, and then the harsher guitars come in as the song started. After the first break, Dez started to play a hip-hop groove, T joined him and Angus and Hamish came in with singing "you see you find, you see you find, you see you find, you see you find you feel" before going back to the "inside of me" chorus. The verses seem to be in a higher key than before, which leads it sounding a little strained at points, but the song continues to rock.

Hamish the asked the crowd "does anybody feel like removing any items of clothing?" Dez encouraged everyone to get naked, and Hamish said, "ok, we do one song per item of clothing... from everyone." Dez replied "Hamish, it's a little bit like strip poker then, is that what you're saying? We play a song, they take something off... like a wristband or a tennis shoe or something" which cracked up the crowd.

Rick, Angus and Hamish gathered together to discuss what the next song would be. Dez gave us a running commentary filled with quips like "they are doing that little musician thing where they talk about it before they do it. Oh, see now, he disagrees with them, wait, check it on the guitar." As they continued to talk, Dez continued "They've got all the power over here in the tribunal. The cave elders have now met and discussed the next song. The conversation went like this 'ogh, ugh, oooh, ugh'" and he also added some monkey noises, cracking the crowd up further. Dez asked what key they were playing and Rick then came to the mic and said "the key is... the pipe... the bagpipe key, whatever that is." T started to play, and Rick joined in, starting the song Superstition, by Stevie Wonder. Rick sang the song very well, full of bluesy soul.

Hamish joined in on the bagpipes, with Dez in the background on harmonica. Rick sang as the guys all played along. After the second verse, Rick said, "take it, Hash" which led to a great bagpipe solo. Rick then played a bit, and so did Lori. Hamish addressed the crowd saying "gotta bring it in people, bring it in. Come a little closer, we need to feel you. Gotta cuddle up, it's cold!" Rick and Lori played off each other, each echoing the other's lines, until they got into super high notes, bringing out cheers from the crowd. Hamish picked up the didg, and the sound just filled the small area where we were gathered. Rick said "Give it up for Lori, on fiddle" and then continued with "Give it up for Hamish Norman Boyd Richardson on the didgeridoo" getting a big laugh from Hamish.

T filled the time, and the band called out for Wayne to join them if he was still in the house. Dez asked, "I've got a question. Who wants to hear a new Brother CD?" which was responded to with big cheers. He continued "Wait, should the five of us make an album maybe?" the cheers continued, "Alright then, we just might." Wayne had joined the stage, and started to play the blue didg. Angus picked up the pipes, and Hamish picked up his didg. We heard the familiar notes of Clumsy, and which brought the crowd, finally, to a standing position.

The guys continued to improvise around the melody, and somewhere along the line, the pipes went back to Hamish, Angus got his bass, and Wayne got the yellow didg, instead of the blue one. Rick played many random recognizable things, like the Flintstones theme, and the Mission Impossible theme. Angus started singing, "you... make... me clumsy... you... you make... you make me clumsy... you make me clumsy." Hamish joined him at the end, and it just evolved into a giant scream, and Hamish started playing the bagpipes to end the song with a bang.

Hamish asked "oh, can you take any more, is it possible" and of course, we screamed. The guys slowly moved into Funny, after playing around with random notes for a bit. Once it began, there was a scream from the crowd. Funny really sounded good over the weekend, and although Angus may have forgotten a few words this time, they still kept the song going which kept the crowd in it. Lori's fiddle added a new dimension to the song, much like Dez does to many of the other songs. Angus and Hamish were singing the last verse, Rick joined in, and the three on them finished with great harmony.

Hamish thanked everyone for being there, and said "it's a pleasure, snuggling up with you." Rick started to play and Dez started rapping along to it, which Hamish mentions in his road diary entry. This turned into Cotton Eye Joe, which brought more impromptu rapping for Dez about faith, and turned into Lori leading the band in a Hoedown.

The synthesized "yeah" that we had heard earlier that weekend kept the beat as the guys in Brother joined in clapping along. One of the dancers from the weekend came up front and danced a small jig to the delight of the crowd, and Dez echoed the musical line on his keyboards.

Once this was over, the guys continued to jam around. Rick played a bit of the ragtime song The Entertainer by Scott Joplin, and Hamish joined in with the didg. There was then some calling out for River, but T's synthesized voices on the drum set had us all clapping along, and inspired Hamish to start Lean on Me instead. Hamish, Angus and Rick gathered along the mic, Lori played along and Dez came out from behind the keyboards to rap a bit along to the song. Rick and Angus really sang out at the end of the song, bellowing out "lean on me." This came down to Angus repeating "will not be long" as this was all going on, Hamish brought in the dig, and then they returned to the verse of the song. The song was finished with Hamish, Angus and Rick coming in with three-part harmony on "somebody to lean on."

Rick said, "A challenge has been made. Apparently somebody in this room thinks that we can't play any Led Zeppelin. And the fact of the matter is, we probably can't. But, you aren't going to know he damn difference." With that, he launched into a very interesting version of Kashmir, by Led Zeppelin. The guitar parts were excellent, but I have a feeling the lyrics weren't quite there. As Rick said, didn't make a damn difference, because the crowd enjoyed it anyway.

Dez said "I suppose y'all want more of this stuff, right?" and was responded to with cheers. They all decided that they were done at this point, but Dez didn't want to end the show there. He addressed the crowd with "Let me ask you a question, do you guys want to hear Believe, like acoustic, just on the guitar, don't cover your face [to Angus], that's a gorgeous song, man, is that not an amazing song?" There was a bit of discussion, with Dez egging him on, asking the crowd "Have you heard it too much?" to which we responded with a resounding No. Dez said to Angus "I've signed you up." and he continued with "I think they're mad that I grabbed my microphone tonight. They're like 'oh, Dez grabbed his microphone tonight, look, he's still talking, we had this whole plan...nope, he had to talk'." Angus then decided to do the song, said it was for Dez, to which Dez replied, "Yep, this is for me, cause you know what, I'm his biggest fan, he doesn't even know. This guy right here, makes me believe again. You know what I'm saying. Listen, Angus Richardson is the real thing. He makes me believe again."

With that, the guys left Angus along on stage, and he leaned up against the tables to tune the guitar and get ready. He began the song and it was fabulous, as always. Although it was the end of a long night, capping off the end of an extremely long weekend, Angus gave his all for the song. During the verse of "I have died, many times, but I'm back from the dead, and I live and I feel once again" Angus let the guitar die out, and slowly sang through the words. He sang the ending with a repeating descending line on "make me believe, make me believe again" and slowly faded out. The crowd burst out into applause, and the show was ended.

The guys hung out in the bar and the lobby afterward, coming and talking with fans about the weekend. It was nearing 2AM before everyone started moving out of the bar and into the lobby to say goodbyes. We thanked them for doing this extra show, and wishes them safe travels home. As was now routine, we spent the night roaming the halls, trying to reduce our cabin fever, and randomly running into the Brother members around different twists and turns. By the next morning, the roads were passable, and we all got ready to go uncover the cars and get home.

It was an excellent weekend. I had been worried about the 'new' Brother, but I found the spirit of the band that I have been seeing for 7 years now is still there. They are still Brother, and they are still evolving, as they have always done.

Click the picture to go to the photo gallery,
or click here to return to the reviews.