Gravity Works
Tuesday August 11th, after much self persuasion I made my way down to McFadden’s to catch, at least, Gravity Works first set of their headlining night at McFadden’s. Located at 52 Pine Street in Providence, Mcfadden’s has a long history as a chain sports bar and Irish pub, but is relatively new to hosting live music. With the rash of live music club closings (The Call, The Centry Lounge, The Livingroom just to name a few that come to mind) over the past few years, many bars and clubs have been shifting paradigms to accommodate the incredible local music scene. While I applaud Mcfadden’s efforts to host live music, it remains of of my least favorite places to see a show. Despite the lack of proper house PA system, and stage for that matter Gravity Works took to the floor with Zack Fenner on guitar and vocals, Nate Beauvais on bass guitar and vocals, Paul Silvia on percussion and vocals, Maro Leclerc on Keys and Joe Jannerelli on drums, and rocked the house:
Zach, Joe and Nate
They started the set off with a newer rocking number I’d yet to hear, “Baby’s Bottle.” Zach took vocals on the song, and blazed on guitar the whole song with Joe was knocking out some crazy fills. Towards the latter part of the song, each musician was afforded a few measure solo to showcase their stuff. It was a great segment of lead exchanges that left me wanting more. Selecting a lesser known Dylan song from 1974’s “Planet Waves,” for their next piece, GW began a jamming cover of “Tough Mama,” with Nate on vocals. Marco shone early with the song weighing heavily on the keys. About a third of the way through Zach played a very melodic guitar solo, reminding me at points of Dickey Betts playing. The solo opened up into a great musical segment during which Nate was getting funky with his bass line as they changed the groove into their original, “The Shaman.” Zach took over at the microphone once again and lent passion to the vocals. Nate took lead vocals on the grooving version of “Points” played next. At this point in the night it was evident Gravity Works was taking the two set, headlining show to new levels with their extended improvisation during the musical segments. Zach took lead vocals for the nest song to which I have no title, showcasing a great bass intro, every exploded musically into the song.
Marco
Paul
I got the camera ready againfor their cover of Frank Zappa’s “Slime.” Taking lead vocals, Paul broke out his Zendrum and an ear to ear grin while Nate laid out the funk groove, Gravity Works nailed it. Without stopping they began to play “The Reason,” with Nate on vocals. Another rocking jammy number that had everyone on the floor dancing, some guests went as far as to move the tables out of the way to make more foot room. Playing a quick song next, they played a bit of be-bop rock and roll with “Sexy Cabaret,” with Zach on lead vocals again. The next number began slow and picked up past to an epic feel, I didn’t get a chance to clip it, I believe it was called “We Are.” I stuck around for the entire duration of the first set and caught a newer one I didn’t recognize, “My Velocity.” Zach remained on lead vocals, and the band played it high energy, keeping everyone’s attention going into the set break. I spoke with the guys for a bit and had a quick cigarette before heading out for the night, calling it quits around Midnight. I heard the second set was even better than the first, making me wish I’d stayed a bit longer, but being a work night, I played responsible and retreated relatively early. I’ll certainly be trying to make it down to Gravity Works’ show at The Penalty Box on November 7th, with The Johnny Lingo Band.
