Off Broadway is a strange live experience. The place is hidden
between low-lit bars and dilapidated apartments in South City, and
has an exterior that screams “Regulars Only!” Once inside, Off
Broadway has the appearance of a place that is better suited for
country-western fare, with plywood floors and a barn loft in the
rear. The “pit” extends a scant 10 feet from the two-foot stage;
the rest of the place is filled with bar tables and fold-out
chairs. If it wasn’t for the plethora of instruments scattered on
the stage, it would be hard to tell that a concert was going on at
all.

Ah, but there was a concert last Friday, and it was probably one
of the best to fill the walls of Off Broadway all year.
Surprisingly, this stellar performance came not from a punk band,
not a soul group, not even a hard rock band. The performance came
from the Pernice Brothers–a pop band.

Starting with “Here Come the Swell,” opening act Peter Bruntnell
slowly coaxed the crowd into submission with his soft vocals and
Walbourne’s amazingly sweet lead guitar accompaniment. It became
all the more stunning when Walbourne traded the electric for a mini
pedal steel and harmoniously flowed behind Bruntnell and his
guitar. It was perfect music to just sit around, enjoy a beer and
watch.

If Bruntnell coaxed the crowd with his siren song, then the
Pernice Brothers revived an audience on the verge of going comatose
and brought them to their feet. From the opener, “One Foot in the
Grave,” the band got everyone’s blood flowing. Local eccentric
Beatle Bob was so enraptured that he danced with enough fervor to
make frontman Joe Pernice ask that he “not dance so comically.” I
don’t think Beatle Bob took that to heart, as he kept on with his
unique brand of dance for the rest of the night. The group mainly
mixed material from its latest album, Your, Mine and Ours
with songs from its breakthrough The World Won’t End. Both
of these had layers of synths, guitars and pianos that would make
one believe that trying to recreate the lush sound would be
impossible. Quite the opposite, as a pared-down incarnation of the
band (with Walbourne taking the place of both keyboardist Lara
Stein and guitarist Bob Pernice) seemed to flush out the songs even
more live than on record.

On such songs as “7:30” and “Weakest Shade of Blue” the floor
literally shook from a combination of the pumping speakers and the
en-masse foot tapping from the crowd. On several occasions, couples
would randomly come up and start dancing in the pit–a sight that
is becoming rarer and rarer these days.

For the encore, Joe brought Bruntnell back on stage to sing
back-up on “Flaming Wreck,” the high point of the show. Bruntnell
looked a bit sheepish, standing near the mike as the band rocked
out on stage, but at the same time he had a huge grin on his face
from being so close to the action. It was not hard to tell that the
people on stage were having twice as much fun playing the music as
the crowd was listening to it. By the end, the band was out of
breath, and the crowd was not far behind.