Myles Coyne and the Rusty Nickel Band
There was no shortage of live music this post-Thanksgiving weekend, and Center Street alone offered several options last Saturday, from Soul Low at the Jazz Gallery to De La Buena at Club Timbuktu. The decision was difficult, but for some sporting ’staches, the destination was clearly the Second Annual Mustache Party. Initially a basement-show tradition, the concept worked its way to Linneman’s Riverwest Inn last year, and from there to the Stonefly Brewing Company, where the event marked the end to no-shave November with a celebration of friends, mustaches and music.
Opening the night was the progressive-rock-leaning group Newlybreds. Covering vast ground from funk-fueled rap to jazz-induced R&B, the band explored genres while maintaining a firm root in rock, anchored by guitarist Jack Beyler and his crunchy and distorted tone. He couldn’t have been more Zappa inspired, right down to the mustache. Leading lady Andrea Olson mirrored the band’s flamboyance as the frontwoman, bursting into raps then belting powerful melodies with bluesy soul.
D’Amato followed with an unusually stripped-down set—it was essentially a solo performance with a DJ/hype-woman—that worked to his advantage. Neatly clad in a suit and tie with a chain slung around his neck, D’Amato is a bona fide performer who can sing soulful falsettos, rap with impeccable agility, dance and bust into guitar leads all exceeding mediocrity. Rapping about his imperfections and preaching about peace and love, he instructed the audience to hoist their middle fingers high and turn them into peace signs. The impromptu freestyle rap with the Newlybreds rhythm section propelled him across the threshold into the convincing, multi-dimensional performer he is.
Capping the night’s festivities off were the familiar faces of Myles Coyne and the Rusty Nickel Band, who filled the spacious venue with dynamic folk, easing into things with soft, sensitive introductions that expanded abruptly into loud bluegrass romps. It was apparent how much fun the six-member band was having as the loudest act of the night, which spilled into some absurd on-stage antics. Guitarist Jack Tell, in full grizzly beard, shaved his facial hair right there on stage. The stunt pretty much made things official, signifying the end to no-shave November.
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