In 2023 The Band Anna played its last show and I feel we went out on top. Opening in Irwin’s annual “Gig On Main” show that was headline by the Clarks we played a full set IN THE POURING RAIN to an increasingly larger and more enthusiastic crowd. The Band Anna was:
– Brianna Acalotto – vocals
– Jesse Bergman – guitar, vocals, keyboard
– Mark Earnest – guitar, vocals
– Aaron McConnell – bass, guitar, vocals
– Matt Omler – drums
I’ve pulled out a few of the songs to post on YouTube and add some comments. Note that between the wind and rain, the audio (and for that matter video) is not ideal, but still represent I believe how we sounded in general at this time.
Boys of Summer has been a staple of ours from the very beginning. I feel like this one went a little fast (I can always tell when we get to the breakdown part and I find I have to scramble to get the syncopated part in) but still came off well. Also note that we are really shooting for more of The Ataris version and less Don Henley’s version, and as such I’m taking several overlapping guitars and trying to do them with one guitar, especially in the solo.
Truth be told, Under Pressure wasn’t even on our setlist, this was just something we tossed in as a soundcheck, but it came out pretty well and I wanted to preserve it. Jesse and I had a number of cues between each other in this song to verify we are where we think we are (this is literally the only song I ever count bars in, especially at the end where chord changes come at really non-intuitive places) so you will see us signaling behind Brianna and Aaron a few times. I am also very much a boring stationary performer but for some reason I kind of get into this one and almost move a bit (awkwardly)
Your Love is a fun song to perform, and Aaron and I have a little Easter Egg at the end we both love to do. If you listen in the outro we both play various parts from Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Own way (bass and guitar solo respectively). This is also one of the few songs I actually sing loud on rather than just background harmonies.
Flagpole Sitta is a rare Jesse vocal led song, this one is just pure fun. High energy and a little silly. The guitar part is fairly simple, so I try to mix up how I am attacking each section.
This is the Fall Out Boy’s version of I Want to Dance with Somebody. I don’t remember exactly why we didn’t do the key change at the end, so it feels a little flat there to me, but still a jam and usually a crowd-pleaser.
Brooklyn was a late addition to our lineup, and I don’t have a lot of recordings of it. Also, my guitar was a bit quiet on this version which annoys me, but it is what it is. Another Jesse vocal performance, Jesse introduced us to this song and Patrick Droney in general which was a good find. I like to think with more time we would have really done this song justice (I’m playing a much more basic guitar part than I would have liked).
LOOK AT HOW HARD IT WAS RAINING DURING THIS! Also just a fun song to jam on
For anyone curious about my gear during this, the guitar is a Rick Turner Model 1, amp is a Peavey Classic 30 and the pedalboard was exactly set up like this (although much wetter by the end of the show).
