Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Brothers Gow

I came away from my first Brothers Gow experience with no clear idea what manner of band I was listening to. There is no defining sound here. The music seems to be the end result of the workings of a very (overly?) democratic process: lots of ideas grafted together. This is how Brothers Gow builds their songs and their sets, apparently, by grafting one phrase onto another, and then another, and so on.

Sometimes the grafts are abrupt, across-the-board tempo and thematic and even genre changes. Generally, it works, in a jam-band kind of way, though the Brothers are more unpredictable than your average noodlers. The concert ride is bumpy, and each bump is a passage cut from the pages of rock history. The ’70s are all over Brothers Gow music, and that’s okay by me. I grew up then, and these old sounds are like best friends. Did I mention the light shows?

Sponsored
Sponsored

Lighting is so important to the Brothers’ stage production that the band lists Matt Collier (their lighting guy) as a sixth member of the band. But the Brothers Gow are not, in fact, brothers; they are Alex Gow Bastine, Carson Church, Kyle Merrill, Ethan Wade, and Nate Walsh. They are from Flagstaff, but it comes as no surprise to learn that the band has relocated to Ocean Beach. Even if they are 40 years late for the peace-and-love movement, don’t count out a resurgence of same, even if the underlying motivation is neither peace nor love.

Road mileage has smoothed the Brothers’ sound over the past five years, but time on many stages has also quickened their reflexes. That said, don’t let your mind wander at a Brothers Gow show. Stay alert, for this is not your typical psychedelic jam band. Except for the lights.

Jefferson Jay also performs.

Brothers Gow: Griffin, Saturday, May 25, 7 p.m. 619-684-1816, $5

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Next Article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.

I came away from my first Brothers Gow experience with no clear idea what manner of band I was listening to. There is no defining sound here. The music seems to be the end result of the workings of a very (overly?) democratic process: lots of ideas grafted together. This is how Brothers Gow builds their songs and their sets, apparently, by grafting one phrase onto another, and then another, and so on.

Sometimes the grafts are abrupt, across-the-board tempo and thematic and even genre changes. Generally, it works, in a jam-band kind of way, though the Brothers are more unpredictable than your average noodlers. The concert ride is bumpy, and each bump is a passage cut from the pages of rock history. The ’70s are all over Brothers Gow music, and that’s okay by me. I grew up then, and these old sounds are like best friends. Did I mention the light shows?

Sponsored
Sponsored

Lighting is so important to the Brothers’ stage production that the band lists Matt Collier (their lighting guy) as a sixth member of the band. But the Brothers Gow are not, in fact, brothers; they are Alex Gow Bastine, Carson Church, Kyle Merrill, Ethan Wade, and Nate Walsh. They are from Flagstaff, but it comes as no surprise to learn that the band has relocated to Ocean Beach. Even if they are 40 years late for the peace-and-love movement, don’t count out a resurgence of same, even if the underlying motivation is neither peace nor love.

Road mileage has smoothed the Brothers’ sound over the past five years, but time on many stages has also quickened their reflexes. That said, don’t let your mind wander at a Brothers Gow show. Stay alert, for this is not your typical psychedelic jam band. Except for the lights.

Jefferson Jay also performs.

Brothers Gow: Griffin, Saturday, May 25, 7 p.m. 619-684-1816, $5

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Next Article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader