DAN’S PAPERS
Page 50 April 18, 2014
danspapers.com
BOOK REVIEW
ART EVENTS
Gulf Boulevard By Dennis Hart.
Openings, closings see and be seen.
The Feelies Come to Town April 26 had an impact.” But Mercer wouldn’t box The Feelies in as a hen The Feelies cut their first big album punk band. As they’ve developed, their sound has in 1980, they had just been dubbed by the certainly changed as well. “We went kind of against [punk] in a way too,” he Village Voice as “the best underground band in New York City.” It was a time when punk was emerging says. “We went with distorted guitars, vocals in a as the sound of a generation, and with their strong higher range. In that sense we wanted to distance drum and bass section, The Feelies were a part of ourselves from punk.” They listened to all sorts of music for inspiration, that. “I guess the influence of punk on us was in a broad from African percussion albums to the experimental of Philip Glass. sense,” says founding DAN’S member Paper and lead guitarist music JR VERTICAL 6.187 x 9.125 “So much goes into the mix,” Mercer says. Glenn Mercer. “The novel, quirky, party aspect of it
By emily j. weitz
“songtrails live!” hosted by
Caroline Doctorow Psychic MediuM Jeffrey Wands
THURSDAY TH APRIL 24
BIG BAND
The Feelies are ready to rock!
featuring caroline doctoroW Pete Kennedy russ seeger abbie gardner of red Molly & guests.
Sinatra Style
WINE
& SWING MC FOR THE EVENING WILL BE ERNIE FAZIO
featuring
neW MillenniuM JaZZ band
FRIDAY TH APRIL 25 and local Wines
With sPecial guests froM long island’s unconventional conventionalists!
SATURDAYTH APRIL 26
IE!
MOV
- Upcoming Shows UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE
TOURING COMPANY, IMPROV
sat, MaY 3Rd
8PM
GUITARIST/SONGWRITER
ANI DIFRANCO sUn, MaY 4th
8PM
ROCK & ROLL GREATS!
JAY & THE AMERICANS sat, MaY 10th
8PM
GAIL STORM TRIO
MOTHER’S DAY JAZZ BRUNCH sat, MaY 11th
M 11:30A
SOUTHERN ROCK
GEORGIA SATELLITES
FRi, JUnE 13th 8PM
Suffolk Thea TheaTTer MUSIC • COMEDY • DINING • DANCING
33367
COMEDY & LAUGHTER!
Courtesy WHBPAC
W
FOR TICKETS: SuFFOlKThEaTER.COm | 118 East Main st., RivERhEad, nY 11901 | (631) 727-4343
After their first album “Crazy Rhythms,” the drummer and bassist left and new members Brenda Sauter and Stanley Demeski joined. By the time their next album came out, The Good Earth, in 1985, there was a softer feel. “A change like [two new members] has an impact,” says Mercer. “Brenda isn’t as aggressive on the bass, and Stan has a different feel on the drums. The songwriting changed as well.” But the changes in the group tended to come naturally. “It’s been a gradual evolving,” says Mercer. With about 20 years between the third and fourth albums, there was plenty of time for the members to grow. And at first, Mercer wasn’t thinking about getting back together. It just felt like it was time to pursue their music separately, that The Feelies were one step on a much longer personal journey for each of them. “For a few years before we reformed,” Mercer recalls, “there was a lot of indication that there was interest in the band. Requests for licensing, requests to reissue the albums, a lot of internet activity.” Other bands, notably REM, also cited The Feelies as influences in their own work. That got them thinking about getting back together. Then, when Sonic Youth asked them to play a reunion show with them in Battery Park for the Fourth of July in 2008, they decided it was time. “It felt great to be back,” says Mercer. “It was familiar.” Immediately, they decided if they were going to play together again, they’d produce a new album. “It was a top priority for us to cut a new record,” says Mercer. “We only got together infrequently, so we did a lot of work on our own to make optimum use of our time.” The fact that much of their work was done independently in the comforts of their own homes has an influence on the sound of their most recent album, Here Again (2011). “It’s the same people playing,” says Mercer, “and our approach is pretty much the same. What’s different is we don’t get to play together as much as we want to, so we do more work with demos than previously, so we’d have something to work off of.” At their shows, The Feelies try to let the set list run the gamut from early work to brand new stuff. They sometimes do covers, as well as material from all of their albums. “We’ve been doing two sets, playing for close to three hours,” says Mercer. “We’ll cover a lot of ground.” The Feelies will play at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center at 76 Main Street in Westhampton Beach on Saturday, April 26 at 8 p.m. For tickets call the box office at 631-288-1500 or go to whbpac.org.