Mercy, Brothers!.....

It's a blustery, frigid walk with Joe and Peter (after dueling with a Saab cowboy for a Walgreen's parking spot) over to Redbones BBQ in Davis Square early Friday evening, needing to fill up on catfish sandwiches 'n Smuttynose IPA before heading to Sally O'Brien's. The Mercy Brothers are there tonight. Crowded as hell in the Redbone's bar as we squeeze into some open slots against the wall. But not to worry, Peter's got cred here, so our orders come lightning quick. And we've got Nancy's $10 certificate - life is good!

I know I'm going to pay for this tomorrow, having appointments starting at 8AM, but that's okay. The drive from CT was a breeze until we hit Framingham, then a crawling hour until we hit 128. Met up with Peter at brother Joe's Somerville estate, where we split into boys/girls activities - girls (Mary, Pammy, Nancy, Brenda, Reet) opting to dine out.

There's a couple dozen people inside as we enter Sally O'Brien's, a neighborhood pub with a band stage and some cocktail tables in an adjoining room separated from the bar by a half-wall. We dock at the bar, giving us a great view of the stage while maintaining arm's length access to our next brew. A tough looking chick chats it up with Peter and Joe, while I watch a shirtless Freddie Mercury work his way through Bohemian Rhapsody (Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled the trigger, now he's dead....) on the big screen behind the bar.

Peter took in a performance of the Mercy Brothers last month in Framingham when they were just Barrence Whitfield on vocals and Michael Dinallo on guitar, but it looks like there will be a full band tonight. Peter knows Barrence (real name Barry White -NOT kidding!) through Derek Houston of the Iguanas, who is married to Kiki, the daughter of close friends/former neighbors (yes, there will be a quiz). Barrence suddenly appears at the bar and introductions are exchanged, then it's showtime. Sally's has filled in a little more as the band kicks off with some Percy Sledge that sounds familiar. Joe thinks it's something middle 1960's. As the set moves along, the band gets into high gear with Buddy Holly looking/sounding Dinallo's guitar playing counterpoint to the deeper, bolder 2nd guitar (sorry, no names on the uniforms, so I didn't get all the players). The baseball-capped Whitfield mixes in screechs and wails with his tasty soulful delivery. All this complimented with a very cool standup bass and a weathered drummer and we've got us a damn good band here! They finish up the first set with a SMOKIN' version of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues with Barrence wailing Johnny's lament in between, around and through some really fine extended guitar solos. I like it - alot.

Hey, Ron's here, just in time for the second set! And a phone call from Reet and Nancy tells us they are stopping by, too. Meanwhile, a tipsy older dude in a beat up fedora and scarf is making out with our tough looking chick. Reet, Nancy and Peter don't like him, but I think he's fine and certainly not hurting anyone. Once the music starts again, Mr. Suave slides onto the dance floor for some too-smooth-for-the-room moves. Very entertaining. And then Peter is hauled onto the hardwood by a very attractive woman whose boyfriend apparently chooses to sit. Barrence is really cooking now and the band is right there with him. Nancy grabs my camera and takes a few shots of them in action, but has it on 'movie' by mistake; so if anyone wants some 3-second snippets of the band, we've got 'em!

Very enjoyable evening. The Mercy Brothers and the company were outstanding. We should do this again. And Barrence should come down to CT to play Cafe Nine! Perhaps they will notice? Hey, Johnny Gumbo, you should check them out for the Apple Harvest Festival!