The Easy Eye Sound Revue rolled into Brooklyn Steel on Tuesday, March 27th as Dan Auerbach brought a slew of Nashville’s finest to rock and roll around his excellent album Waiting on a Song, as well as a few choice covers and older tunes.
Opening the show was the surf-pop on acid styling of Shannon and the Clams. The Oakland based four piece played their infectious hip swaying songs as if they were a spooky band at the coolest prom on earth. The pulsing “You Let Me Rust” matched organ swells with surf rock guitar while the galloping drums of “You Will Always Bring Me Flowers” had hips shaking like a tambourine. The band closed with the torch song “Did You Love Me” showcasing bass player and lead singer Shannon Shaw whose smoky vocals were intoxicating as she screeched and soared with equal ease.
The Easy Eye Sound Revue came on stage in big band formation, but the group of top-notch session musicians led by Auerbach where there for easy going rock and roll. Gene Chrisman (Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin) on drums, keyboardist Bobby Wood (Presley, Dusty Springfield), pedal-steel guitarist Russ Paul (Elton John, Leon Russell) and bassist Dave Roe (Johnny Cash, Sturgill Simpson) may have had more gray hair then anyone in the audience, but they also had more energy as the crowd was lackluster on this rainy Tuesday night.
Opening with the title track “Waiting on a Song” the group was well lubed from a few months on the road even if the backing vocals were mixed too high. The sound adjusted and the band hit the right note with the grooving “Malibu Man”; all of the newer tracks were smooth as “Cherry Bomb” bobbed and weaved while “King of a One Horse Town” went for drama. For a musician who made his bones in the lo-fi blues duo The Black Keys, Auerbach seemed right at home as bandleader, giving solos to his teammates while controlling the flow.
Shaw returned adding her lush vocals to “Cold Pillows” which included doo-wop backing from all on stage before Auerbach played a new song “Trouble Waits For You” which was a stunner. While everything was going along gracefully to this point, business got jacked up with the arrival of Robert Finley whose stage presence, leather pants and vocals elevated everything. “Medicine Woman” was a voodoo winner before the blues groove of “Three Jumpers” shook it on down.
The band was roaming after that as “Undertow” locked in before the player’s cover of JJ Cale’s “Don’t Go To Strangers” rocked. The Traveling Wilburys influenced “Shine on Me” closed a dynamite set of tunes before the encore saw Finley return with “Get It While You Can” which sizzled like bacon. The night cap “Goin’ Home” ended a sweet set of sound showing that young or old, original or cover, Auerbach and company know how to spin golden tunes into fans ears.
