With the 2022 release of their highly anticipated latest album, “Come Morning,” we were more than eager to snap up tickets to see Winnipeg, MB band The Bros. Landreth in concert at one of our favorite Northern VA music venues when the tour was announced earlier this year. Better yet, since purchasing those tickets in early March, the album would earn both a nomination and victory at the 2023 JUNO Awards, taking home “Contemporary Roots Album of the Year” honors – their second album to win a JUNO – and making it sweeter still to enjoy an evening of their music this past Sunday at Jammin’ Java.
Following an incredible and highly energetic opening set from local R&B artist Jarreau Williams, siblings Joey Landreth (guitars/vocals) and Dave Landreth (bass/vocals) – along with Roman Clarke (drums/vocals) – received a very warm greeting when stepping on to the stage. “Thank you so much for coming and hanging with us on a Sunday night, it means the world to us,” Dave offered. “Put your hands together for Jarreau Williams. That was ridiculous, so incredible. You make friends out here on the road, you never know when, you never know where.” “He said he was just gonna warm up the stage, not burn it down,” Joey added, himself still in awe of what we all witnessed. “I’m really glad that Jarreau Williams is letting us close the show for him.”
Performing 13 songs, plus 1 encore number across a solid 75-minute set, the trio played a great mix of their own tunes, some of Joey’s solo material, and a pair of covers too. “Here’s a song I wrote for my wife. Because I love her, I miss her. You guys are good, but I miss my wife,” Joey would announce prior to a performance of “Drive All Night” – one of several tracks taken from the new album. “Kids say the darnedest things, you know. I did not mean to insult you, DC and surrounding areas. You guys are great, full stop – and here’s a song I wrote for my wife, is what I meant to say.” Enjoying the positive feedback, Joey would jest a little more. “Thanks, I do this for a living, this is not a hobby,” he added, eliciting plenty of laughs in return.
We had the pleasure of catching a live solo set from Joey at a summer festival in Ontario back in July 2018, where he road-tested new tracks (at the time) “Forgiveness” and “Whiskey,” and both tunes would be shared here at Jammin’ Java in this full band configuration. As expected, popular The Bros. Landreth radio cuts such as “Stay” and “What In The World” would also be performed from the new album, along with crowd favorites, “Made Up Mind” and “Our Love,” from their original 2015 JUNO-Award winning “Let It Lie” album.
It was evident from the offset that there was great chemistry between this tight-knit trio, making for some wonderful moments that you truly only see live on stage – from the almost-jazz sounding version of “You Don’t Know Me” (nice use of brushes from Roman, and Dave’s deeper bass notes mimicked an upright bass at times), to the closing of “Corduroy,” where Joey kept his band-mates in check by refusing to play out his closing notes, leaving the whole room in a constant state of suspense. Hearing Dave’s lead vocals during “Shame” made for a great segment, as did Joey’s teasing once more with some brief flashes of metal riffs. “We’re very happy to be here,” Joey would add. “We’re playing like we’ve got the day off tomorrow.” A quick burst of metal guitar… “I’m so sorry, I just woke up,” Joey continued in jest. “Are you worried about heavy metal music?”
Following a phenomenal cover of the Ray Charles hit, “Hallelujah, I Love Her So,” and (with little time for a pause) “What In The World,” Dave would step up to the microphone to address the room once more. “Folks, we’re out here on tour of our fairly recent record called Come Morning,” he offered. “We made this record between 2020 and 2021, and we poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this thing. And it’s been the joy of our lives to kinda pick up these songs and bring them to the stage. We’re having the most fun we’ve ever had.”
Closing the show, Joey would drop hints of an encore (“you know what to do”) before the trio departed the stage for a brief moment, the Java-faithful making enough noise to earn their return. “Aw shucks,” Joey responded, as he plugged his guitar back in and tuned one final time. “Roman pointed out the other night that doing an encore is like a grown-up peekaboo. I’ve got a two-year-old at home, and it is… Every time, she has no clue you’re back there.” And with one final song to send the crowd home, The Bros. Landreth opted for another cover, this time a lively interpretation of The Invisibles’ “I Can’t Win” (popularized by Ry Cooder) to wrap up an excellent evening of alt-country-soul-blues from this talented JUNO-Award winning act.
Set List:
- Forgiveness
- Stay
- Drive All Night
- Made Up Mind
- Whiskey
- You Don’t Know Me
- Corduroy
- Hallelujah, I Love Her So (Ray Charles cover)
- Got To Be You
- What In The World
- Shame
- Where Did I Go Wrong
- Our Love
Encore:
- I Can’t Win (The Invisibles cover)
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
