LE POISSON ROGUE – NYC 12/04/09
Singer/songwriter Brendan Benson and his solo band rolled into NYC Friday night in support of Benson’s 4th solo album “My Old, Familiar Friend”. If you think that you’re not familiar with Brendan’s work, or that you’ve never heard of him, you’d be dead wrong. Benson is a member of The Raconteurs and shares songwriting duties with guitarist Jack White. While Benson’s solo stuff has been labeled as “power pop” his fans, his peers, and Brendan himself would passionately disagree. Although his influences include David Bowie, The Kinks, Elvis Costello, The Kinks and Todd Rundgren, make no mistake, Benson’s music is his own. While this is my 2nd time catching Brendan live and I knew that I wouldn’t be disappointed, it’s always cool when you can turn someone else onto an artist they’re not familiar with.
Thanks to good company and drinks I unfortunately missed opening act Cory Chisel and the first song from Brendan’s set.  Despite the club being jam packed thanks to the Le Poisson Rogue’s layout we were able to snag a good spot and I soon found myself getting lost in the music as the band deftly maneuvered through a set list that covered all four of Brendan’s albums. One of the highlights of the show was when opening act Cory Chisel joined the band for a note for note perfect rendition of the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ classic “American Girl”. The crowd ate it up as the danced and sang along. I wish that his set had lasted longer than it did, but I would hardly say that the crowd left disappointed.
In an age where the music scene is saturated with bands that suffer from over-processed, bland and boiler plate songs, Brandon Benson is the kind of songwriter that not only the music world needs, but fans of music have been looking for. You owe it to yourself to buy a copy of Brendan’s latest album “My Old, Familiar Friend”.
For more information visit: http://www.brendanbenson.com/
