Born in the Flood

Born In The Flood

As the night progressed, it was obvious that this was not a “normal” concert and was a true variety show where musicians wandered on and off stage at what seemed like random and dynamic intervals, depending on their mood, the song being played and the tone of the vocal audience.

Joe and Nate moved on and off stage blending with the act on stage for a song or two and then the disappearing, exiting stage right through the heavy red curtains. Each act played only one or two songs before making room for the next act, always leaving you wanting more, always thirsting for just one more song.

The show offered up all of Denver’s brightest and best young musicians while either Joe and or Nathaniel accompanied them, moving like shape shifters from band to band adding a bit here and there to each groups sound, these chameleons and master musicians literally blew me away. The terms awesome is way to over used and these days offers up little clarification to the object to which the word is applied, but remember back to when it was reserved for occasions like the first man in outer space looking back at the blue orb we call earth and uttering “the view is just awesome”, they were in awe and thats when the word should be used not as Eddie Izzard says in simplistic statements like, ” this hot dog is awesome, man.” Born in The Flood is an awesome band, I have very discriminating taste when it comes to music and these guys are world class, just the emotion these guys bring to the stage will snare you and tie you up until the last chord is played or until Nathaniel leaps from the stage into the audience and lands literally in your lap (this happened to me). The following summary is from the bands web site located at http://www.bornintheflood.com

Born in the Flood originated over a decade ago when singer/guitarist/keyboardist Nathaniel D. Rateliff and guitar/bass Player Joseph Pope III began creating music on the south bank of the Missouri River floodplains in Hermann, Missouri. Rateliff and Pope were raised in the throes of a blue-collar life, witnessing the constant hardships. It was here that Rateliff began his work as a songwriter; here the factories and farms mixed quiet desperation with idealistic youth. Their vision quickly outgrew the limitations of rural seclusion and over the years found their way west to Denver.

There they picked up guitarist Matt Fox and drummer Mike Hall and soon after was the birth of Born in the Flood. The band has wrapped up its highly anticipated sophomore e.p., “The Fear That We May Not Be”, recorded by Ian Hlatkey at Woodshed Studios, and has begun to garner label attention already. The album was independently released July 15th 2005. Songs such as “For Fear” and “Fate of the Underachieved” had previously begun underground circulation in the Denver area and have created much excitement at the passion and progressive nature of a band on the pulse of the music scene. The band then released the CD “If This Thing Should Spill” on May 15, 2007.

We arrived at the Bluebird Theater just in time for the first of nine acts that would end up playing from 9:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., four full hours of exquisite live music. The Bluebird theater was built in 1913 and is a beautiful old building with a bar located at the back center and balconies above, and a grand marquee out front. We purchased a couple T-Shirts a CD (If This Should Spill) and the poster to the right from the bands road manager Bart Dahl who I had called earlier that day to get approval to take photos. We moved front and center in the venue and took our place among the die hard fans and the other photographers, one in particular was especially helpful and informative about the Denver music scene, his name is Jason Claypool and is a photographer for the Denver Post. You can see his pictures from this show on his Flickr site located at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scnightrod/sets/72157611226552441/ also you can read the review of this show in the Denver Post at: http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2008/12/15/born-in-the-flood-holiday-revue-the-bluebird-theater/

The acts for the evening included the brother duo Patrick and Nathan Meese, The Wheel (Side project of Nathanials), Joseph Pope III, Bad Weather California, Sweet Tooth Meat Tooth, The Get Down, Joshua Novak, Ian Cooke, Iuegliss, Aaron Collins.

First up Heavy Rockers, we were still getting settled and this first act came on and played a couple songs before we could even get down to the stage. I was able to take one shot from the back of the venue. I will attempt to get their name but until then I will simply refer to them as the hard rocking band that was up first.

The second act was a young man named Tom Metz has the stage name of Iuegliss, he fired up his laptop and performed several tunes solo, his delicate voice accompanied his expertly preprogrammed synth and drum beats.

Third Act – ?? Group and Keyboard Player? Next the stage filled with the what seemed like every musician backstage, an eclectic group of players wandered out and plopped down on stage like a madrigal group who had juts walked in after a long journey and decided to stop and have a picnic. As ? began playing the electric piano and singing in a sweet, low voice the group began banging and pounding to the rhythm of ?. ? black patent leather shoes tapped out a jazzy beat and kept time to his intricate and dancing rhythms.

Fourth Act – Brothers Patrick and Nathan Meese. I did not know these two were brothers and the DJ that tried to fill the gaps between acts with clever banter called them the cutest band in Colorado. Patrick’s voice was high and sweet and filled the Bluebird from dance floor to Balcony, the tightens off the arrangements was obviously the result og years of jamming together, I will be doing much more research on these two and will augment this blog with more details about this incredibly talented team. As was the pattern of the night, the sand a couple songs and disappeared, leaving us yet again wanting more.

Fifth Act – Joshua Novak performed his own music to simple arrangements that suited his melodic yet edgy voice perfectly.

Sixth Act – Sweet Tooth Meat Tooth? Newly Weds, this husband and wife team graced the stage and delivered a spare and beautiful yet edgy set of original music, the lone guitar had a heavy bass sound and droned against the angelic voice of his new wife. These two knew each other well and played off each others minute nuances and made for a solid heavy set, raw, hard and beautiful at the same time.

In the wings, … I glanced to the winds and noticed a motley crew of musicians who had already played and some waiting anxiously for their turn, these guys all wanted to get out there and play and could hardly contain their enthusiasm and stay put off stage right in the wings. The reminded me of an picture I saw once of the band Fleetwood Mac, happy, euphoric and most definitely in the moment.

Seventh Act – Joe Pope III, Joe a core member of Born in The Flood (BF) came on and after a few minutes spent adjusting his guitar and bass effects boxes launched in to a heart felt set of beautiful music and heartfelt lyrics sand with an intensity and passion that lifted you up, placed you securely in his world and and then bathed you in a melodic waterfall colored by experiences of his life. His voice harkens a comparison to both John Lennon and the much more recent sounds of Coldplay, yet on some level more approachable and vulnerable.

Eighth Act – Joe Pope and Great Denver Musicians 8

Ninth Act – Bela Karoli with Ian Cooke sitting in, this band is just too good for words, just go buy their album and be done with it or if you won’t listen to me listen to what NPR had to say:

Their latest CD Furnished Rooms, is a stunning set of jazzy acoustic compositions with touches of subtle electronics. The album is filled with beautifully structured dynamics and captivating sonic twists.”

Band members include Julie Davis : upright bass, vocals, soft instruments. Brigid McAuliffe : accordion, vocals. Carrie Beeder : violin, cello. James Han : piano, keyboard, organ.

Ian Cooke

Great Denver Musician 6 and Joe Pope

Bad Weather California, formerly Love Letter Band , Chris Adolf’s, Here is a blurb from Chris’s web site;

I remember when I learned that playing music and devoting yourself to it was something that a regular guy like myself could do. I was just an awkward high school kid no older than 15 years and a friend took me to see his older brother’s punk band play. This was back in the days when groups like Dinosaur Jr., Narvana, Fugazi and Sonic Youth ruled the world and still seemed a little scary to me. I was blown the fuck away, these weren’t rock stars or gods up there playing. These were dudes that I had eaten breakfast cereal with, dudes that had dropped me off at the mall, dudes that were regular dudes like I was.
That serendipitous introduction has stuck with me to this day. It has led me down an organic path of self, perhaps even spiritual-discovery and creativity. I’m not unique in this. It’s just that I have chosen to share my path through the things that I make. Here’s my vibe: I just want to be a regular dude playing music for regular people. Not any particular type of people. Just people. Every person on this planet is born equipped with a heart for magic and feeling. Why only share feelings with certain people? Fuck that. I mean, everyone is a valid person.
This is my church brave and humble.
And these are my songs. They go by the fake name (((bad weather California)))
love always,
Chris Adolf

There was so much good music that night that I have given up trying to decide who was who, if any one visiting this site can help me out please let me know if you can identify some of the photos. I have delayed posting this blog for several days just because I cannot determine who was who. How about I just drop a bunch of photos in here and label them Great Denver Musician 1, Great Denver Musician 2 and so on. Below is Great Denver Musician 7 and Nate.

Note the perfect unison of the swirling arms.

One thing I can tell you is that I am going back to Denver every chance I get to check out the”underground” Indie music scene, it is on fire with talent and should not be missed, can you imagine the thrill of four hours of non-stop killer music all for $13.00! And to top it off I had the thrill of a life time getting to photograph it all and then ending the evening with a full fledged crowd dive by Nate directly into the center of my frame, see below. Nst was blowing out the windows with a evening ending version of one of their more popular songs, Anthem. Below are before and during the stage dive.

Coming right at me.

They left the stage and I used the age old secret weapon to get them back on for one more song.

One last song.

After the show Nate was good enough to allow a couple flashed shots with him and Lorin.

We made our way home, voices sore from screaming and yelling, bodies tired from all the dancing and delighted to have been present at such a fantastic event. There are over 300 photos on my Flickr site of this show, check them out at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30893898@N08/sets/72157611154331351/