St. Paul & The Broken Bones energize The Fillmore for V-Day

St. Paul & The Broken Bones with Sean Rowe //
The Fillmore – San Francisco
February 14th, 2015 //

During the first of two shows at The Fillmore for St. Paul & The Broken Bones, lead singer Paul Janeway climbed atop of the stacked floor speakers, causing the crowd to quickly hold its collective breath that he wouldn’t topple over. Drenched in sweat, Janeway’s stage presence and charisma shined as he gave it everything he had throughout the night. Shimmying around and dropping to his knees, he backs up his amazing voice with showmanship that you wouldn’t think looks the part. Perhaps that’s a big part of the group’s ascending success.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, SF was treated to an extended performance that lasted almost two hours. When this was announced early in the band’s set, the crowd approved by offering a roaring round of applause and utterances of excitement as it transitioned into “Simple Song”, which starts off slow and explodes thanks to Janeway’s preacher-like vocals.

Covering David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” exemplified that SP&TBB can take on an unlikely piece of material and re-work it to something all their own. Along with Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness”, it’s clear that the group have a deep knowledge and respect for the artists that influenced them and can honor their classics with distinction.

Folks arrived early to catch Sean Rowe, who impressed with the full sound he was able to produce using just his guitar and voice as he tackled his songs solo acoustic.

Setlist:
Chicken Pox/Simple Song
Don’t Mean a Thing
Sugar Dyed
Dixie Rothko
I’m Torn Up
Shake (Sam Cooke cover)
Half the City
BB&PC
99 1/2
Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead cover)
Let It Be So
Down in the Valley
It’s Midnight
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long
Mighty River
Grass Is Greener
Make It Rain