Peter Parcek and his trio played an impressive three set show of blues at Strange Brew Tavern in Manchester, New Hampshire last night. Fortunately, Strange Brew is quieter on Tuesday nights and there are more seats available near the stage so people could actually hear the band. Parcek unleashed several good blues guitar phrases at last night’s show and his adept rhythm section, bass guitarist Joe Klompus and drummer Marco Giovino, kept things shuffling, thumping, and driving beneath his eternal flame guitar work.
Parcek and company began by making some serious blues noise with his brittle to barking phrases which his rhythm section pushed forward with muscular authority. “Kokomo Be, Baby” had its quirky, fun rhythmic twists and Parcek’s colorful, grinding phrasing. He danced his guitar lines around a tight groove and his phrasing became more mercurial as he went along.
Parcek’s handsome, sandpapery vocals worked wonders on “Beyond Here Lies Nothing.” His eruptive phrasing sparked with live wire energy. A more soulful guitar phrase barked out of Parcek’s amp as he performed his last title track, “Mathematics Of Love.” The rhythm section’s coiled crawl was an undertow of allure as Parcek’s vocal spoke of the unforgiving arithmetic of one plus one should never equal more than two. Talk about an artist who can make his listeners feel the pain in a song.
Getting more aggressive, Parcek made his guitar bark and cry at once on his rip roaring instrumental “Rollin’ With Zah,” as numerous notes flew out of his amp. He’d get one melodic line going in a furious cycle before marching his notes, single file, over a bulbous groove. His “Tears Like Diamonds” found Parcek contemplating the isolation of being suddenly abandoned by a failed relationship on this down tempo blues groove. Mellower than his other numbers, he still managed to pack it with emotion.
Another moody piece, “Stranger Blues,” eventually turned into a fiery phrase fest. Parcek found the special ingredients in “Key To The Highway,” another blues classic he made his own. He injected feeling into it at his own special pace while he made his guitar practically cry out the melody line. Parcek took Hound Dog Taylor’s “Give Me Back My Wig” and let his rhythm section give it a solid backbone in it s low end and marching beat allure. Parcek aired the song’s grievances with a forceful belt before unleashing his leanest, meanest guitar phrase of the evening. It poured forth like water out of a fire hose, almost like his guitar was possessed and had a mind of its own.
The next two sets were even livelier. Mighty instrumental workouts cleared a path for more songs that spoke from the heart. There was more of a Peter Parcek following in the area around the stage for the second set and the trio fed off the energy and offered up, if you can believe it, even snappier, feistier blues than their impressive first set. One youth was on his feet for most of the set, endlessly dancing and swaying to the trio’s groove.
“Every Drop Of Rain,” “Lazy Poker Blues,” and “World Keep On Turning” were treated with respectful guitar work by Parcek and his rhythm boys, especially “World,” a down tempo cruise loaded with perky guitar notes, all part of a gripping pattern within a gripping guitar phrase.
Parcek’s “New Year’s Eve” got its strength from his expressive lead vocal application. Once could feel what the song was all about at last night’s show as Parcek sang about what he was doing in Chinatown alone. His nimble picking style allowed him to hit some guitar notes that were as impressive for the feelings and colors they conjured as well as for the adept touches Parcek utilized to create their dazzling array of notes. He seemed to get a nimble, brittle phrase going, and, while making it seem easy, he created a secondary melody line, a supra orbital line that danced around the initial melody line, if such a thing is even possible.
Drummer Giovino was gracious enough let local Manchester drummer Lee Sevigny pound the skins for a few songs, and the guest skin man held his own against the mighty Parcek and Klompus.
Parcek and company certainly offered up a lot of exciting blues last night at Manchester’s Strange Brew Tavern. The owner, booker made a wise choice putting Parcek on the venue’s Tuesday night schedule. Serious blues fans can actually hear the music once the dinner crowed thins out and Parcek enthusiasts fill up the area in front of the stage.
