Not Only, But Especially for the Sadies

Beth and I went out to Williamsburg last night to see the Sadies. The venue was called Union Pool, which used to be an actual swimming pool supply store. I tend to associate that neighborhood with repurposed buildings, so why not? It has a regular bar, an outdoor area with a taco truck, and a small stage area with its own bar. And they've apparently had problems with angels having sex in the bathrooms.

The Sadies are a country rock band from Toronto, who play music that has sort of a lonely Western prairie vibe, at least to me. A lot of their work is instrumental, and it kind of reminds me a little of Camper Van Beethoven's instrumental numbers. They collaborated a lot with Neko Case, and we'd seen them supporting her years ago. Brothers Dallas and Travis Good provided vocals, but sadly Dallas died unexpectedly last year. Travis dedicated the show to him, and his picture was on the back of the stage. At this show, Travis sang and played guitar, although he switched to fiddle for one number.

Most of it was done as a three-piece, but they invited opener Carson McHone and her four-piece band to join them for a few songs, so the tiny stage was pretty crowded during that part.

They put on a fun show. It was standing room only and my feet got really tired, but that's not the band's fault. After the concert, we went to eat at the Kellogg Diner, where we'd eaten at least once before. They let me substitute a fruit cup for hash browns with my omelette (it said you could on the menu), and it looked pretty cute.