Brothers Disconnected
w/Fire On Fire
Live at the Space Gallery Portland, ME 6/20/08

Well, another fun night (albeit grueling drive) down to Portland for a cool show...

The theme of this show was the late Charlie Gocher, who was the drummer for the Sun City Girls. He passed away earlier this year. (I had the amazing fortune of being able to see the Sun City Girls a few years ago at the Gladtree festival, where Charlie was an absolute madman!). The show was to feature some of his films, a set by the Portland based band "Fire On Fire", and then "Brothers Unconnected", who are the remaining two members of the Sun city Girls. It proved to be an interesting evening!

First up was about 20 minutes of short films that were done by Charlie Gocher. Very intense, and very weird for the most part...I enjoyed them immensely (especially the parts where he was ranting off...Charlie could rant with the best of them!!!). A great way to start.

Next up was a wonderful set by Portland's own "Fire On Fire". I don't know if "Cerberus Shoal" broke up or what, but "Fire On Fire" is made up of a few members of the Shoal. They played an excellent, heartfelt set that went over really well with the home crowd (and me too!). Very folky, but with an edge...a great sound that you can check out on the Youtube link below:

Finally up were "Brothers Unconnected", brothers Richard & Alan Bishop. They both played acoustic guitars, and I have to admit it was pretty cool hearing the lyrics that they were singing (which can be hard to make out during the intensity of Sun City Girls!). They did a bunch of Charlie's songs (one of which "Six Kids of Mine" is on the Youtube link below...it was originally on Charlie's LP "Dante's Disneyland Inferno"). A really fun set with a great chance to see the brother's personalities in an acoustic setting.

So, well worth the trip to Portland, and a damned good tribute to Charlie Gocher. RIP Charlie...