A Scary Good Halloween Run from The Breakfast
There’s something about doing a run of shows with one band that is magically irresistible to the true fan and utterly incomprehensible to everybody else. To the show-goer, your world temporarily becomes the scene. Changes in the setlist take the place of the daily weather report. The fans you talk to at multiple shows are the best friends you have. The further you go from home, the more enraptured you become, for your proximity to home means nothing compared to your proximity to the band. You let go, and are engulfed in the scene, for better or worse.
Such surrender is for the best when seeing The Breakfast, a jam-rock outfit from New Haven, Connecticut, whose members’ youthful appearances conceal the fact that they have been at it for 10 years and over 1,100 shows together. It is easy to enjoy repeated shows with this band, since they exhibit the classic jam-band behaviors of total setlist overhaul every night, creative seamless segues between songs, unexpected covers, and stretching out their own complex tunes through constant exploration and experimentation.
10/30/08 at the Iron Horse, was, in fact, the band’s 10-year anniversary show. The show was also part of the band’s 10th annual Halloween celebration known as the Fonghoulish Freakout. Previous Halloweens have produced Star Wars and The Big Lebowski themes. This year’s theme was more general, and provided more variety: cartoons! The band came on to a rousing ovation with guitarist Tim Palmieri dressed as Inspector Gadget, keyboardist Todd Stoops as Superman, bassist Chris DeAngelis as Chef, and drummer Adrian Tramontano as Papa Smurf. After opening with a quick shot of “Merry Melodies” (that’s the Loony Tunes theme, for those of you unfortunate enough to be raised without television), they segued into a huge rendition of “Rufus,” a Breakfast original usually reserved for later in the set due to its epic scope. Of course what better way to end a colossal 10-minute jam than to segue right into…the Beavis and Butthead theme! Heheheheh….these guys rule! Mmmhmmhmm, yeah! The rest of the set featured long versions of Breakfast jam vehicles such as “What The Funk,” “Metropolis,” and “Score,” interspersed with more short cartoon themes such as Duck Tales, GI Joe, and Happy Happy Joy Joy. The jam of the night though, was a delicious segue sandwich of "Buquebus" > "Transformers Theme" > "Buquebus." The Breakfast’s ability to transform from song to song is always more than meets the ear.
Less than 48 hours later, it was back into the car for the 4 hour drive from Boston to Higher Ground in Burlington, VT for a second helping of The Breakfast. Dozens of fans had made the pilgrimage, many traveling 6 hours from the band’s hometown. Immediately, we knew we had made the right choice as The Breakfast opened with crowd favorite "Hard Luck Harry," a song about a a perilous road trip with a triumphant end. An apt description of life on the road sometimes, for sure. Later in the first set, the band pulled of a massive segue, that's may appear laughable at first glance. However, these two 30-second cartoon theme songs turned out to be a power rock party and funk bonanza! Ready? Here it comes: Inspector Gadget > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Cowabunga! Go-go-gadget-funk-jam. This was so huge that I could picture Penny and Donatello grinding with each other on the dance floor. Now that's an image to ponder. The rest of the show kept it going from there, as drummer Tramontano opened the second set with a monster drum solo that brought the house down. It takes some serious chocolate salty balls to open a second set with a drum solo. But The Breakfast had the confidence and chops to pull it off. They followed it up by later playing the South Park ditty "Chocolate Salty Balls." The encore may have been the best part of both nights, bringing back epic "Rufus" and segueing into Frank Zappa rock classic "Willie The Pimp."
By the time I got home the next day, the sky was dark much earlier, the weather was significantly colder, and the people around me were noticeably more duller. So it goes when coming back to earth from Planet Breakfast…or whatever musical planet you choose to throw yourself onto for a multi-night adventure.
