The Devil Makes Three, a Santa Cruz-based folk-punk band, played a sold-out show at McDonald Theatre on Friday night, after outgrowing their usual venue WOW Hall.
Devil Makes Three, which oddly lacks a drummer, packs each song with enough rhythm and energy that it’s impossible to stop yourself from doing a little jig. Although Devil Makes Three might fall into the genre “folk-punk,” they are undoubtedly also a blend of bluegrass, old-time music, country, ragtime, blues and rockabilly.
Devil Makes Three, made up of guitarist Pete Bernhard, banjoist Cooper McBean and stand-up bassist Lucia Turino, are touring behind their newest album “Stomp and Smash,” which was released on Oct. 24.
“The rhythm is what our band is about,” Devil Makes Three frontman Pete Bernard said in their band bio. “We write with rhythm and dancing in mind.”
Devil Makes Three was warmly welcomed to Eugene by hundreds of young, old, tattooed, hippie and punk Eugene folk. The variety of people at the show were almost as interesting as the tunes themselves.
Bernhard started the show with a personal thank you to his fans, who have been loyal and growing in Eugene for almost a decade since the band released their first album in 2002. He also made a point to tell the crowd about a recent food poisoning incident that resulted in a green-faced McBean holding back spew through the entire show. Charming.
The band started with “All Hail,” one of their most upbeat and popular songs. The energy from the band was enough to sustain multiple hours of heel-stomping, hand-clapping enjoyment that never slowed or faltered though much of the energy from the crowd could partly be attributed to the packed upstairs bar. In the spirit of the bluesy music, the whiskey was definitely flowing.
It wasn’t until part way through the show, when “Old Number Seven” (a tribute to Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey) came on, that some drinks were abandoned and all the people in the bar rushed the stairs to come join in the fun.
Bernhard and McBean, both rural Vermont natives, have been friends since eighth grade. They both moved out to the West Coast independently, but began officially collaborating musically in 2002 when they teamed up with New Hampshire-native Turino.
“He (McBean) was the only person I knew who was into the same style, although he leaned more toward the country side of things,” Bernhard said in their band bio. “When we started out playing, we were doing punk and rock.”
Together the band has released four full-length albums and one live-album, “A Little Bit Faster And A Little Bit Worse,” recorded at two live shows in Felton, Calif.
Altogether, I couldn’t give Devil Makes Three more kudos. They’ve blended together an enormous number of genres and crossed all sorts of lines for acoustic music. They’ve got soul and passion, heartache and rejoice, energy and a whiskey-fueled attitude. Bernhard told fans on Friday night that he loves to play in Eugene and that it’s always been good to him. So mark the date for the next time they come to town, grab yourself a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and stomp your feet to a band that bleeds energy and rhythm.
Devil Makes Three stomps out a sold-out show at McDonald Theatre
Daily Emerald
November 19, 2011
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