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Here it is, a concert review of the debut of the Father Figures at the Ruby Room!

July 21st, 2009 Posted by: Dust Devil

All right folks, plenty of “professional” journalists covering the local music scene in Phoenix should have already posted a review of this show. They will come on board in time, so for now enjoy the raves of the Dust Devil, because as time has gone on I realize more and more just how special of an evening it was at the Ruby Room watching the Father Figures play live for the first time.

Let’s do the math here. You have three musicians, all veterans of the Arizona music scene. They name themselves the Father Figures because two of the members are 39 and one just turned 50. Together they create a classic post-punk style of music with plenty of melody. One member played in Jody Foster’s Army and Housequake, another member was in the North Side Kings and Hillbilly Devilspeak, and the third in the Voice, 40 Watt Las Vegas and the Captives. To me, that math equals a formula for one promising new band!

This whole evening was one great party. Four DJ’s spun tunes before and after sets from the two featured bands on this evening, the Father Figures and Grave Danger. The DJ’s included Nick Dephinger, Bobby Lerma, Todd Joseph and Rob Locker.

The occasion was to celebrate Father Figure’s guitarist Michael Cornelius’s 50th birthday. Celebrate we did, with plenty of snacks, and even cake and ice cream! The cover at the Ruby Room was FREE on this evening and there were plenty of drink specials. This truly was a grand occasion and loads of fun.

The scary part is, I have not even gotten to the actual show yet …

After two great DJ sets to commence the evening which included music from TSOL, the Descendents and the Pretenders, the Father Figures strode onstage to play their first ever live set. I was both blown away and excited seeing how many people were crammed into the Ruby Room. There was not a whole lot of room to move in this venue, creating a great atmosphere for some killer live music.

Before I leap into “reviewer mode”, let’s get something clear first. Some of you know that I have been friends with Robert Lerma for a long time now. I have mentioned his name in several posts on this blog because of all the great music he has turned me on to. However, I have such a love and passion for music that if a project he is involved with does not turn my crank, I tell him that. He will attest to the fact I have done so on several different occasions.

I tell you that because when I tell you this was a GREAT show, that is from a purely objective frame of reference. If anything, I went into this show with possibly too high of expectations. I had the privelege of hearing rough, instrumental versions of Save it For Later and Something’s Burning weeks before this show. When I heard them, I knew this show was going to be special. A lot of bands claim to be post-punk, but fail miserably at creating music that lives up to the high standard of that genre of music.

Not the case with this band! I really was impressed with what I heard, knowing this trio had only around ten practices under their belt before playing their first gig. From the first chords of the opener Save it for Later, the Father Figures introduced the Ruby Room crowd to a brand new era of alt rock. The crowd ate it up.

Tom Reardon may be in the process of learning a new style of vocals, and it will be a learning process, but he is on his way. The North Side Kings and Hillbilly Devilspeak were bands with a heavier sound, much more hardcore than what the Father Figures do. That is a difficult transition to go from a hardcore style of singing to the more melodic approach required for this band. I look forward to the continued progress in this respect! His bass play remains his strong suit and was a key element during each song, particularly during TBBH. No, I will not tell you what the letters stand for, ask the band when you go see them.

Michael Cornelius became well-known for his smooth bass work, which was so unique for a skate punk band like JFA. How good he is on that instrument was really evident when he was in Housequake, a great funk band. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with his guitar work, which suits the style of this band very well. I would love to have heard his vocals more on the couple of songs he sang, they were a bit low in the mix. What was great to see as a music fan was how sincere he was on stage, and how much fun you could tell he was having. Marvelous!

Bobby Lerma on the drums … I have raved about this guy quite a bit. I am being sincere when I say his musicianship is top notch. Bobby always does exactly what a quality drummer is supposed to do in a band; direct the course of the music and keep everyone on task. He plays hard, but with extreme precision. This is the type of band where his skills really shine through.

TBBH was the highlight of the set for me personally, what a joy to hear for the first time. It possesses great tempo and that killer bass line I mentioned earlier. Something’s Burning is full of intricate guitar licks that hook you from the second gets rolling. The band showed its diversity during the set as well, able to play a mellow track like Happy/Sad, then a mere two songs later totally kick into punk rock mode on AZPX!

Folks, you blew it if you did not go to this show! A great party, a very cool venue (but fix that AC people!) and a great start for the Father Figures. This truly was live music in the manner it is supposed to be played; raw, plenty of emotion and lots of energy. With time I am sure the polish will start to be a factor as well, but it is such a pleasure to see a band in its early stages of existence.

There are two more opportunities to check out the Father Figures in the next few months. This Saturday, July 25, they will perform at the annual St. George’s Day Music Fest at the George and Dragon. My understanding is they will go on around 10:00pm, a prime slot for a band performing for just the second time live! Then on Saturday, October 17, the second birthday bash for one of the band’s members will take place at Hollywood Alley. This time come celebrate with Tom Reardon!

No excuses people! Get off your rear and go check out some great new local music. Trust me, the show this Saturday will be exponentially better than the Keith Urban one the same evening!

Cheers!
The Dust Devil

Filed under: Event Reviews