The Silversun Pickups at Brooklyn Steel

The Silversun Pickups. Mid-tempo ambient rock. Just a comforting blanket in these uncertain times. They were doing two nights at Brooklyn Steel and I caught them the first of those two nights in early March.

There was no politics, no viruses. A break from the question of what the fuck we are doing. A break from the silliness of not talking to people who might be paying us a fee of $50k. (Sorry I digress. . .)

None of that and just a blanket of well put together poppy rock with equal parts guitar and keyboards with a hot hard-working bass player. And a drummer who was damn good. He just would not stop. None of them did stop. They all were dialed in that Thursday night.

The songs have this orchestral component. Hard edged pop rock and orchestra. Not just pop. Not at all. There is some serious rock. Serious rock. Actually, it is the keyboards. The keyboard contribution stands out. Often times keyboards just support or compliment. Not the case here. And the arrangements recognize that dynamic.

Lastly, just understated mellow vocals and dude up front. No ego. Not on stage. The antithesis of David Lee Roth. Just a certain low key vibe. Energy yes, but not in your face. The volume is not at 12, for once. Oh the volume was fine. Don’t worry. We could hear it.

Now the morning of the show, not ready to start at work, I looked for a place to grab dinner in Brooklyn. Some place around the venue, Brooklyn Steel, which is a beautiful venue. Something new.

So at work, not working, I found online a restaurant offering up soul food. Collards, macaroni, something grilled. Cool. Again comfort food. I was looking forward to checking all this out in the evening.

So I arrive in Brooklyn, Work is done. The show is in an hour or so. I come up from the subway and look at my iPhone. Where am I headed now? My phone proceeds to ask me if I still want to go to this place, this restaurant. It turns out they were closing at 7 PM. It was 6:50. It is a smart phone.

It wasn’t needed anyway. The show, the music, the band, and a rum and coke or two was more than sufficient.

I do look forward to their next show. Honestly, today, in the midst of this Coronavirus thing, I look forward to any show. I guess we all do.

And in case you did not notice, the pictures provided originate from Will Olivier’s review and photos, which can be found on We All Want Someone To Shout For

The Youtube clips were not recorded by me either. I do believe they are from those two shows at the Brooklyn Steel venue. I just went and enjoyed the show and the writing began as a facebook post on the train home. Ultimately, I brought it here.