Brooklyn Bowl always churns out the best live shows in New York City. I call the North Williamsburg music venue/bowling alley my favorite venue in the city for two reasons. First, because the live sound/lighting quality is as good as it gets when it comes to live music. Second, because I really believe that for some reason one of New York’s more popular venues forces bands to bring more than just their usual bag of tricks and step their game up a notch. Last Tuesday at Brooklyn Bowl I saw just that, as the New Orleans-rooted rock band The Revivalists brought their southern show to the big apple.

Currently on tour in support of their third album, City of Sound, The Revivalists were the headliners of the night. After two fantastic, and I really mean fantastic sets by The Stone Foxes and Moon Taxi to start the night off, I knew the headlining act was really going to put on a good show, and of course I wasn’t disappointed. The band covered new material of the Wind-Up records release including ‘Criminal’ and ‘When I’m Able’, as well as some older songs from their first two albums in what would be another typical great show at Brooklyn Bowl.

As the band went from smooth and soulful to rockin and rollin with each song, each member of the band showed they are able to handle the dynamics and tempo variations throughout the set. All seven members displayed their talents flawlessly, as their on-stage chemistry comes from countless mileage and experience playing live and winning fans over city-by-city. Made up of guitarist Zach Feinberg, bassist George Gekas, pedal steel shredder Ed Williams, sax blaster Rob Ingraham, drummer Andrew Campanelli, Mike Girardot on both the ivories and the trumpet, and Dave Shaw at the vocal helm, the band’s hour-plus set seemed like it would never end, in a good way of course.

Shaw, the leader of the band, sporting a stylish rock and roll headband, took the reins as a fantastic front man leading the band through a beautiful mix of soul-filled, organic rock feel that was once plentiful in music but has been limited to very few but very talented acts like this to carry on. You hear a lot of different influences in their music, from soul, to funk, to a little big of reggae-like sway and emotion. A comparison to O.A.R. mixed with The Dirty Guv’nahs and a little bit of Gov’t Mule thrown in the mix might give you a good idea of what their sound consists of. While they carry many styles and influences in their sound, on this night it was clear their goal was just to rock and give what seemed like a sold out crowd a night of incredible smooth rock and roll music. Goal achieved. Brooklyn Bowl you old rascal, you’ve done it again!

Article by Tom Shackleford

Photos by Michael Digiovanni