The Brakes - On The Road 2007
When the band went out to perform at their residencies at MilkBoy and the Knit, I rode in the van (to NYC anyway) and brought my camera. Needless to say, we had a blast. The band will laugh (at me) and tell you that I took over the car stereo and played a lot of "classic rock and blues" which is true only so far as they don't know what's good for them. I also slept in the van, which was not my favorite part, but it was much better than having to drive back (after 1000 cocktails).
The Knit shows were amazing. We knew the shows would do well, but you never really know until the people show up. And show up they did. We broke all of our previous records in NYC and it just got bigger every week. Of course, the more people who came, the more psyched up the band got to play...thus some of their best performances ever were caught on tape.
MilkBoy was a completely different affair. Rather than being the full-bore rock act that they were used to being, the intimacy of the venue forced the band to rethink their entire approach to the songs. Suddenly, the sound opened up on stage, and everyone could hear each other play ("I never knew you played that part!"). Acoustic guitars took the place of electrics (that's what makes the version of "Song of Imponderables" on the album so cool) and the music itself was allowed to breathe. That may sound corny if you're not a musician, but it means a lot, trust me.
Some of the other photos in this slideshow come from events that happened after the residencies...Memorial Day weekend at Jam on the River, the September show at the Ram's Head in Annapolis with Ivan Neville (thanks for lending us the organ, Ivan)...all in fun, and all during the process of making this album happen.
Featured in some of the photos are some of our favorite people:
Mike Polans: without Mike, The Brakes probably couldn't find their way from gig to gig and from backstage TO the stage. Our fearless tour manager (when he's not out with the Disco Biscuits), Polans has done wonders for organizing things, keeping everyone on track and finding mandolin strings in the middle of Nashville. You can see him in the photo with Captain Morgan from Jam on the River.
Tommy Joyner: without Tommy, at least half (and really more) of "Tale of Two Cities" may not have existed. Tommy had been after us to come play at his venue, MilkBoy Coffee in Ardmore, and this residency idea (first proposed by our friend David Levine) was a perfect opportunity for us to do an underplay in our home market. At the time that we were planning this, Tommy was installing a really great live ProTools recording rig in the venue, and we got to be his guinea pigs. When it came time to put the record together, Tommy worked closely with Matt to make it sound as good as it does. Hey, Tommy...thanks, man
Larry the Bartender: Oh, it was scary for us to pile in the van and drive to the Big City every week...we were far from home and we had to spend considerable time holding Derek's hand when he cried for his mother. Our new mother became Larry the Bartender at the Knitting Factory. Week after week, he plied us with Magic Hat #9 and took our drink tickets. He showed us amazing Japanese films where zombies heads exploded. And we were there for him when his cat died. Larry, this one's for you, baby.
John Francis: I may spend too much of my valuable time working as The Brakes' manager, but I also have time for my man JF. Each week at both MilkBoy and The Knit, we had special friends open the shows. The Brakes and JF have been friends for a while (even recording a Holiday song together this year), so when JF said "back me up boys", Matt, Zach and Josh were happy to oblige.
Ben Arnold: Ben is a Philly legend and one of the best songwriters any of us know. In our downtime, while the record was being finished, Matt, Zach and Flicker have become part of Ben's touring band. We had him open for us at the Knit, and Flicker and Zach played horns (as they often do)
Kevin Calabro: without Kevin, none of this would have happened. Kevin is a friend of Polans, but as it turns out, we knew each other from a previous life. It was Kevin who brought Joel Dorn to see the band and Kevin who ultimately got us signed to Hyena. Now he's our A&R guy, publicist and general consultant. We love that guy. He knew the words to all the songs by the third show (and he came to all of them). Dude's a fan!
Joel Dorn: our mentor, and the man who worked under Ahmet and Neshui at Atlantic producing greats like Donny Hathaway, Leon Redbone, Bette Midler and that guy John Coltrane. As if it wasn't enough just to MEET someone with these credentials, Joel took our calls, gave us advice and came to every show. He was a DJ in Philly back in the day, and his son Adam was a Lower Merion grad (the best fraternity we never joined). When Joel passed away in December, our hearts broke, but we have the good feeling that he was our champion and so we've dedicated the album to him.
Now go look at the pictures.
When the band went out to perform at their residencies at MilkBoy and the Knit, I rode in the van (to NYC anyway) and brought my camera. Needless to say, we had a blast. The band will laugh (at me) and tell you that I took over the car stereo and played a lot of "classic rock and blues" which is true only so far as they don't know what's good for them. I also slept in the van, which was not my favorite part, but it was much better than having to drive back (after 1000 cocktails).
The Knit shows were amazing. We knew the shows would do well, but you never really know until the people show up. And show up they did. We broke all of our previous records in NYC and it just got bigger every week. Of course, the more people who came, the more psyched up the band got to play...thus some of their best performances ever were caught on tape.
MilkBoy was a completely different affair. Rather than being the full-bore rock act that they were used to being, the intimacy of the venue forced the band to rethink their entire approach to the songs. Suddenly, the sound opened up on stage, and everyone could hear each other play ("I never knew you played that part!"). Acoustic guitars took the place of electrics (that's what makes the version of "Song of Imponderables" on the album so cool) and the music itself was allowed to breathe. That may sound corny if you're not a musician, but it means a lot, trust me.
Some of the other photos in this slideshow come from events that happened after the residencies...Memorial Day weekend at Jam on the River, the September show at the Ram's Head in Annapolis with Ivan Neville (thanks for lending us the organ, Ivan)...all in fun, and all during the process of making this album happen.
Featured in some of the photos are some of our favorite people:
Mike Polans: without Mike, The Brakes probably couldn't find their way from gig to gig and from backstage TO the stage. Our fearless tour manager (when he's not out with the Disco Biscuits), Polans has done wonders for organizing things, keeping everyone on track and finding mandolin strings in the middle of Nashville. You can see him in the photo with Captain Morgan from Jam on the River.
Tommy Joyner: without Tommy, at least half (and really more) of "Tale of Two Cities" may not have existed. Tommy had been after us to come play at his venue, MilkBoy Coffee in Ardmore, and this residency idea (first proposed by our friend David Levine) was a perfect opportunity for us to do an underplay in our home market. At the time that we were planning this, Tommy was installing a really great live ProTools recording rig in the venue, and we got to be his guinea pigs. When it came time to put the record together, Tommy worked closely with Matt to make it sound as good as it does. Hey, Tommy...thanks, man
Larry the Bartender: Oh, it was scary for us to pile in the van and drive to the Big City every week...we were far from home and we had to spend considerable time holding Derek's hand when he cried for his mother. Our new mother became Larry the Bartender at the Knitting Factory. Week after week, he plied us with Magic Hat #9 and took our drink tickets. He showed us amazing Japanese films where zombies heads exploded. And we were there for him when his cat died. Larry, this one's for you, baby.
John Francis: I may spend too much of my valuable time working as The Brakes' manager, but I also have time for my man JF. Each week at both MilkBoy and The Knit, we had special friends open the shows. The Brakes and JF have been friends for a while (even recording a Holiday song together this year), so when JF said "back me up boys", Matt, Zach and Josh were happy to oblige.
Ben Arnold: Ben is a Philly legend and one of the best songwriters any of us know. In our downtime, while the record was being finished, Matt, Zach and Flicker have become part of Ben's touring band. We had him open for us at the Knit, and Flicker and Zach played horns (as they often do)
Kevin Calabro: without Kevin, none of this would have happened. Kevin is a friend of Polans, but as it turns out, we knew each other from a previous life. It was Kevin who brought Joel Dorn to see the band and Kevin who ultimately got us signed to Hyena. Now he's our A&R guy, publicist and general consultant. We love that guy. He knew the words to all the songs by the third show (and he came to all of them). Dude's a fan!
Joel Dorn: our mentor, and the man who worked under Ahmet and Neshui at Atlantic producing greats like Donny Hathaway, Leon Redbone, Bette Midler and that guy John Coltrane. As if it wasn't enough just to MEET someone with these credentials, Joel took our calls, gave us advice and came to every show. He was a DJ in Philly back in the day, and his son Adam was a Lower Merion grad (the best fraternity we never joined). When Joel passed away in December, our hearts broke, but we have the good feeling that he was our champion and so we've dedicated the album to him.
Now go look at the pictures.
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