THE SADIES
The Basement at Bond Street Bar
Asbury Park, NJ
April 16, 2023

AUD > AT-U853 cardioid mics (4.7 mod) > Church Audio ugly battery box > Sony PCM-A10 (line in) > WAV (24/48) > iZotope RX (de-click filter to reduce loud clapping) > SoundStudio (tracking and light dynamic compression to reduce loud transients) > FLAC (16/44.1)

recorded and mastered by neil d

01 Stop and Start
02 More Alone
03 Strange Eyes
04 Message to Belial
05 10 More Songs
06 Better Yet
07 All the Good
08 Only Good One
09 No One's Listening
10 Strange Birds
11 Northumberland West
12 Whispering Circles
13 Rat Creek
14 Leave Me Alone
15 Lay Down Your Arms
16 Oak Ridges
17 Ridge Runner Reel
18 Why Be So Curious Part 3
19 The Trial
20 So Far for So Few
21 A No. 1
22 Another Year Again
23 Wasn't Born to Follow [Carole King]
24 Ginger Moon
25 Another Season Again
26 Uncle Larry's Breakdown
27 Cut Up High and Dry
28 Jerry Reed instrumental
29 Dark Eyes

Travis Good: electric and acoustic guitar, fiddle, vocals
Sean Dean: upright bass
Mike Belitsky: drums
Carson McHone: backing vocals, tambourine (tracks 18-25)
Daniel Romano: guitar (tracks 18-25)
Julianna Riolino: backing vocals (tracks 18-25)
Roddy Carlyle: guitar (tracks 18-25)

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, my first Sadies show since the sudden death of founder/singer/guitarist Dallas Good last year. So much of the band’s sound and stage presence was tied up in Dallas’s role as frontman, as well as his vocal and guitar interaction with his brother Travis, that I admit I was a bit worried that all I would hear was his absence.

Thankfully, the Sadies are adapting well to their post-Dallas world. There’s still an unavoidable hole, which they didn’t try to paper over — I’m pretty sure Travis is still singing his old harmony/counterpoint lines, not trying to cover what Dallas would sing — but the remaining three members are such strong musicians, and Travis in particular is such a powerhouse guitarist, that this was a great show, if very different from the band’s original iteration. And for the songs that really required a fuller feel — particularly the incredible “So Far for So Few” off their new Colder Streams album recorded just before Dallas’s death — the Sadies were augmented by terrific opener Carson McHone and members of her band, who added the harmonies and layered guitars that they can’t deliver as a three-piece.

This was my first time at the Basement at Bond Street Bar, which true to its name is a fairly unadorned basement of a bar (the main decorations were TVs running loops of, for some reason, “Two and a Half Men” and “Beethoven”), but the sound was good, and I was able to get fairly close to the stage to cut out most of the chatter from the bar area at the back. My main complaint: McHone went on with her opening set well before the announced show time, so I missed most of it, though what I heard I liked a lot. (The Ribeye Bros. also played.)

Go buy the Sadies’ music, needless to say, especially Colder Streams, which is truly a masterpiece (https://thesadies.bandcamp.com). It’s unclear what the future of the band holds once they’re done with the current tour, but if you can catch them live, I highly recommend it.