Two For The Road, Matt Pryor & James Dewees @ fete Providence RI

  Saturday April 27th took us to Providence RI for the evening, to see an intimate show at fete night club. We were there to see Matt Pryor & James Dewees on their Two For The Road Tour. For those of you who are not fimilar with these two gentleman, here is a brief summary of their careers.

Matt Pryor:
singer/ songwriter/ guitarist for such bands as The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams, The Terrible Twos, Reggie and the Full Effect, Lasorda. Matt is also the host of "Nothing to Write Home About", an interview podcast featuring one-on-one interviews with his musician friends and a weekly segment with James Dewees called "Tuesdays with Reggie".

James Dewees:
singer/songwriter/pianist/keyboardist/drummer for such bands as The Get Up Kids, Coalesce, Reggie and the Full Effect, New Found Glory, My Chemical Romance, Leathermouth, Death Spells.

  Now before I get into the review of the show and the club itself, I should explain my history with these two guys, and why this was a big deal for me. One of my favorite genres of music over the last 15 years or so has been what is known as "emo". It's a blend of indie rock/pop punk/ post hardcore music. And one of the founding bands to emerge in this genre was The Get Up Kids. In 1999 through the recommendation of a friend, I purchased 2 albums that would change the way I heard music from then on. First was "Can't Slow Down" by Saves the Day, the other was "Red Letter Day/Woodsen" by The Get Up Kids. I had never heard such unique voices as Matt Pryor (with James Dewees on background vocals) and Chris Conley (of Saves the Day). I was a fan of similar bands in the past (e.g. as Weezer), but these two bands took their sound above and beyond the typical indie rock or punk style. What stood out to me the most was the sound, and more importaintly the pitch of these guys voices. These guys were singing powerful and sometimes graveley vocals, but in a higher pitch than what you would expect. I knew as soon as I listened to these two albums that I was hooked. 14 years later, I own just about everything both of the two bands (and even their side projects) have released.

  So fast forward to present day. I have been listening to "Nothing to Write Home About" and hear that Matt and James are playing a two man acoustic tour in small clubs on the east coast. I thought I had previously lost my opportunity to see the duo as they had already played in Boston a few weeks earlier which was on a week day, preventing me from going. But much to my surprise they had added a few more shows to the tour, and Providence RI was one of the stops. A Saturday night show only 30 minutes from home, you can bet I was going to be there. After 14 years of following their careers there was no way I was going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers.
  The doors opened at 7:30pm and we arrived at the club at around 8:15pm. We sat in the back near the bar and had a beer while waiting for the opening band to start. I couldn't help but to notice that the club looked as if it had been converted from an old strip club into a music venue. There was a definite house of ill repute vibe going on in there, but hey who am I to judge. Just before the opening band went on I used the restroom, and on my way back I literally bumped into James Dewees. It should be noted that this was not the first instance in which I have awkwardly stumbled into one of the musicians I was there to see (i.e. Jack O'Shea of Bayside about 3 years ago). The opening band was a local Providence band The Tower and the Fool. A 3 piece (or at least they were for this show) band that consisted of a lead singer/guitarist, a drummer, and a slide guitarist/mandolin player. They played a collection of indie rock/folk songs that were fairly mellow. The singers lyrics were a bit wordy and jumbled at times, but his guitar playing was good as were the other two members. I'm not sure that the steel guitar absolutely fit into their sound but it was interesting none the less. The singer (Alex Correia?) kept referencing to his lack of witty banter in between songs, which in and of itself was ironically amusing.  They played for about 35-40 minutes which in my opinion was plenty for them. Any more and the songs would have started to seem redundant.

  After a quick set up, Matt and James took the stage. I wasn't sure of which songs they were going to play, as both of them have been a part of so many bands. Where do you start? They ended up playing a good mix of songs from The Get Up Kids, and The New Amsterdams, but they mostly played songs from Matt's solo albums, and Reggie and the Full Effect (of which James writes all of the songs). During the middle of the show we were all surprised when we witnessed a marriage proposal. In between songs Matt asked the gentleman to come up on stage. He took the microphone, explained that he and his girlfriend were here on vacation from Australia and then said to her "will you go on a date with me, for the rest of our lives?" The entire crowd, the staff, and even Matt and James burst into cheers and applause when he got down on one knee asked her to marry him and she said yes. Matt congratulated them and invited the newly engaged couple to dance to a song that he had written for his own wife "I'll Catch You". They played about 5 more songs after that, and since were are in New England they closed the show by playing "Mass Pike" a hit song made famous by The Get Up Kids.

  After the show Matt hung out at the merchandise table and met with fans. Meaghan and I both got our pictures taken with him which is very unusual for us as we are normally very shy when it comes to situations like that. But as I said earlier, when presented with the opportunity to spend some time with (or at least get a picture and a hand shake) from someone I have admired for well over a decade, I had to seize it.

  Sometimes we forget that you do not have to go far or for very long to have a fun adventure. For us it was only a 30 minute drive and a 3 hour show, but I'd say that we had just as much fun if not more so than many of our previous trips. Sometimes all you need is your best friend and good music.

For more information on Matt Pryor and James Dewees

www.ntwha.com
www.facebook.com/mattpryorsongs
www.mattpryor.bandcamp.com
twitter:
@mattpryorsongs
@thegetupkids
@shitdeweessays

www.fetemusic.com

- Jay Follow @TravelsofSC