The Fritz at Dunedin Brewery, Night Two: Pure Genius
Titanic.
That’s the short version of The Fritz, night two, at the Dunedin Brewery. And that might not be quite adequate, either, but it’s a start. The Fritz absolutely tore the roof off the sucker Thursday evening (read that review here), and during that show they encouraged fans to make suggestions for their all-review first set Friday. Guitarist Jamie Hendrickson kept suggesting Hanson tunes and other “heavy” stuff, but the fans really came through.
The request set opened with a bouncy version of the already bouncy “Peaches” (Presidents of the United States), and that funked and chunked its way into “Kashmir” before working itself back into “Peaches.” No matter how we thought this set might go, as usual we had drastically underestimated. The quintet were playing songs most of which they’d only learned earlier that day, but you’d never have known that.
Jamar Woods’ clavinet and Hendrickson’s chunky rhythm guitar were perfect for “Tell Me Something Good,” Woods so good on that heavy breathing section. Next up was one of the requests that featured Woods’ vocals and electric piano without accompaniment: “Imagine.” Simply lovely.
Coming at the end of May are two shows titled The Fritz Presents: The King of Pop Meets The Purple One (and they may add a couple more). We got a preview with “When Doves Cry” that was an excellent interpretation. I admit I was skeptical when they began A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” but they absolutely crushed the jam that ensued. Jake O’Connor killed on bass all night long.
“Lovely Day” made for a lovely night, a beautiful song wonderfully performed. That gorgeous moment dissolved into outrageous funk when the band shoved it into overdrive with “Super Freak > Pusherman > Low Rider > Pusherman > Superfreak.” That was one long, nasty sandwich. And then, for something completely different, “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.” Woods’ classical training was immediately obvious, the powerful organ music filling the brewery.
But then the Bach composition began to morph, and suddenly heads were banging everywhere as “Enter Sandman” emerged, a huge version with Hendrickson’s guitar at the fore. In a night of numerous acmes, this was at the top. And, as if that weren’t enough, there was a wicked “Controversy” tease sandwiched in the middle of the jam. They shifted gears entirely again, Woods singing and playing solo on “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” but the band kicked in, and they moved from the Lori Lieberman/Roberta Flack version to The Fugees cover, then back to solo original.
Woods again played electric piano, noodling a bit of “Movin’ Out,” but of course that transformed into The Flaming Lips’ “She Don’t Use Jelly.” A Bowie request found them playing a heartfelt “Life On Mars,” and the roof ripped straight off with a blistering “Sledgehammer,” the Mikes in charge of the deliberate pace: Mike Tillis on drums and Mikey Spice on percussion. Did they sandwich “Ghostbusters” in the middle? Of course they did!
We ALL needed set break to decompress!
Good thing, too, because they came out swinging, an “Enter Sandman” tease (which would pop up again later) leading to a synth crescendo into “Oppenheim” with a badass bass line from Jake O’Connor. Another long intro announced “Stuck in Between,” one of numerous great tunes from new album Natural Mind. Pretty certain there was no roof at all. After a great “Casual Mistakes,” The Fritz blew up “Walk Away.” My notes simply say TOO STUPID. Toward the theoretical end of the song, O’Connor began a huge bass intro, then the band dropped in for a second “Enter Sandman” tease before pushing into “Too Late,” with a great percussion feature by Mikey Spice, a “Pusherman” tease, then into “Sound. Habits. Blame.” (from first album Bootstrap), and finally into a full-blown “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with an superb vocal ending. Pure genius.
Woods dedicated “God Only Knows” to his dad, which drifted someplace and then into “Africa” before a nice snippet of “One of Us” finished the medley. Yet another electric piano intro led to a beyond-killer “Another Way,” Hendrickson abusing his guitar something fierce with that great James Brown-esque funky guitar and a great solo as well. And, oh, yeah, O’Connor. Because DAMN!
There was simply no way to top that performance, but the band offered a joyous “Benny and the Jets” encore with Woods in full falsetto mode.
I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again. The Fritz are as good as it gets. Period. The end.
Great thanks to Michael Lyn Bryant for continuing to bring spectacular music to the area on a regular basis and to sound engineer Chris Fama for another magical night on the board.
[REQUEST: Peaches > Kashmir > Peaches, Tell Me Something Good, Imagine, When Doves Cry, Take On Me, Lovely Day, Super Freak > Pusherman > Low Rider > Pusherman > Superfreak, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor > Enter Sandman > Controversy > Enter Sandman, Killing Me Softly with His Song, Movin’ Out > She Don’t Use Jelly, Life on Mars, Sledgehammer > Ghostbusters > Sledgehammer; TWO: Enter Sandman intro > Oppenheim, Stuck in Between, Casual Mistakes, Walk Away > ?1? > Enter Sandman tease > Too Late > Pusherman tease > Sound. Habits. Blame. > Smells Like Teen Spirit, God Only Knows > ?2? > Africa > One of Us, intro?3? > Another Way; E: Benny and the Jets]
The Fritz on Tour!
04/05 Dunedin Brewery | Dunedin FL
04/06 Dunedin Brewery | Dunedin FL
04/07 Okaloosa RevFest | Fort Walton Beach FL
04/14 Octave | Covington KY w/ Backup Planet
04/20 Brooklyn Bowl | New York NY w/ Turkuaz
04/22 Sweetwater 420 Festival | Atlanta GA
05/01 The Blind Tiger | Greensboro NC w/ TAUK
05/02 Visulite Theatre | Charlotte NC w/ TAUK
05/03 Shaka’s Live | Virginia Beach VA w/ TAUK
05/04-05/06 Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival | Pittsboro NC
05/19 Domefest | Fort Royale Farm | Bedford PA
05/31-06/03 Mountain Music Festival | Minden WV
06/06 Larimer Lounge | Denver CO
06/07 The Lazy Dog | Boulder CO
06/08 Lander Brewfest | Lander WY
08/17 North Lexington Avenue | Asheville NC
The Fritz Presents: The King of Pop Meets the Purple One
05/25 Charleston Pour House | Charleston SC
05/26 Salvage Station | Asheville NC
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