Surprise me Mr. Davis - The Band that Eats Morning For Breakfast

Surprise Me Mr. Davis may be the best super-group that you’ve never heard of. Made up of avant- rock trio The Slip, Singer/Songwriter Nathan Moore and virtuosic jazz pianist Marco Benevento, the band hit the road for a quick 5 show jaunt around Southern New England and NY in support of their latest release The Man Who Eats Morning for Breakfast EP on Royal Potato Family. I caught the band twice on this run; one in an intimate, listening room setting in Cambridge, MA and the other in an artsy, refurbished Firehouse (turned club) in Providence, RI.

4/13/2010 – Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

This was my first trip to Club Passim, which is a nonprofit Arts center that doubles as a tasty vegetarian restaurant called "Veggie Planet". The room fits around 100 patrons and people were seated at tables of 4 with GA single seats lining the walls. The sold out show in such an intimate setting offered a chance for Davis to play more intricately, rather than just rocking out. The band played mellow versions of songs like "Summer of My Fall" and "Roses and Bottles" to go along with the sit down vibe of the venue.

The stage was very cramped and the guys literally had to climb over a monitor and Marc's pedals to get to their instruments. Newest member, Marco was on an upright piano and had a little keyboard on top of it. Nathan switched between his "troubador" guitar (the one he won in Telluride) and the baritone uke all night. Andrew Barr had a broken down kit, no rack toms and only 2 cymbals other than the hi-hat. He had lots of toys including shakers, wine glasses filled with water, and some sort of bamboo sticks (see picture to the right) he played on his knees during "Nowhere From Here To Go". All in all a great room and great vibe for the band.

Opener: n/a
Venue Info:
Beer sitch: The restaurant served wine and 2 beers from local Cambridge brewing Co, an Amber and a Pale for $5. They came in small plastic glasses but were tasty.
Parking: free parking on the street is pretty tough, I found it about 6 blocks away. There is also a parking garage near the venue that charged $8 if Passim validates your ticket.
Layout: One room in a basement with stage against the wall. Tables of 4 in the middle of the room and individual seats line the wall, this was a sit down show
capacity: 125 (sold out)

1: (8:17) Tombstone*, Sleepyhead, Summer of My Fall, If You Knew, Emily Green, One Sick Knave, Hollow, Mardi Gras Song, Roses & Bottles

2: (9:37) Joelle, The Shouters**, Nowhere from here to Go, Poor Boy, Maybe Some Day, Home Away From Home, As the Crow Flies

E: Woo-Hoo Blues*** > Everything Must Go

Show ended at 10:41pm. * Brad on baritone ukelele, everyone else a capella. ** Nathan sang through his Harmonica Mic while sitting on the ground. He was quoting lyrics from "Fat King of Gods" during the song's intro. *** brand new short upbeat blues tune written by Nathan the day before the show. The band didn't know it and jammed along with Nathan before going in to "Everything Must Go".

4/15/2010 – Firehouse 13, Providence, RI

Firehouse 13 is a refurbished Fire Station on the west side of Providence. Basically, the venue is in the main space of the building where they kept the firetrucks. It’s a long room about as wide as the stage (which has recently been elevated to 4 feet. Yesssss!!!). The less than half filled room crept up tight to the stage as soon as the band hit which allowed for the band to feed off the energy. Unlike Cambridge, this was a standing room club with a light show and good sound system. The stage is bigger and the band had more room to interact with each other on stage.

We got a lot of repeats which is the case these days when the band doesn’t rehearse much and barely gigs; but “Summer of My Fall” and "The Shouters” were noticeably more energetic. The band threw in some more upbeat songs such as the heavy hitting “I'm No Good At All” and funky stomper, “Sissyfuss”, which opened up to a jam session with Nathan leaving the stage and the Slip and Marco just going for it. Highlights for me were the retro sounding reggae/soul number “That’s the Way” and danceable, go with the flow themed “Little Boat”.

Opener: n/a
Venue Info:
Beer sitch: Full beer and Wine Bar. Ranging from Murphys Stout to Narraganset Tall Boys for $2.50.
Parking: easy, free parking on the street.
Layout: Rock club atmosphere in an old Firehouse. GA, no seats
Capacity: not sure, probably 200 or so. About 1/3 full

1: (97 min) Tombstone, Rose & Bottles, Summer of my Fall, If You Knew, Sleepyhead, New tune*, Emily Green, Im No Good at All, Maybe Some Day, Sissyfuss, Joelle, The Shouters, That's the Way, One Sick Knave, Poor boy

E1: (10 min) As the Crow Flies, Little Boat

E2: (12 min) Nowhere from Here to Go**, Everything Must Go

* just Nathan and Brad, Marc sang some harmonies. ** started as Nathan solo and the rest of the band trickled on stage.