Barr Brothers and Friends perform Les Chansons De Grateful Dead

Brad Barr, Andrew Barr, Joe Grass and an impressive group of musician friends put together a spectacle at the Theatre Paradoxe in Montreal for Montreal Folk Festival.

The venue is a repurposed church now used for live music events. The historical church Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours still provides the beauty of the architecture and stained glass artwork, the impressive sound that churches are known for, while serving booze, and a stage setup with fabulous lighting and sound.

This one-of-a-kind event brought together these musicians for a rare opportunity to rearrange and perform nearly a complete rendition of a Grateful Dead show, including a drums/space break.  Unique moments included a completely revamped version of Friend of the Devil (featuring L'il Andy), Brad Barr playing drums alongside drummer brother Andrew, Brad superceding any possible expectation of a St.Stephen cover, gorgeous pedal steel work from Joe Grass, Katie Moore becoming one of the only vocalists to lead us through Box Of Rain without the audience members demanding "Let Phil Sing".

Even though the show was setup 'Cabaret style', the dancing energy was not neglected.  There was plenty of people dancing on the edges, while those seated released their tension with flailing arms and legs.  The appreciation and enjoyment wasn't hindered by this arrangement. Anyone who wanted to dance, got their groove on in one way or another.

It's difficult to explain to anyone what this powerful musicianship mashup sounded like so here is a joining of clips taken throughout various portions of the 2 sets.

Theatre Paradox

Montreal, QC

2016.06.17

Featuring:

Andrew Barr - Drums

Robbie Kuster (Patrick Watson) - Drums

Mishka Stein (Patrick Watson) - Bass

Brad Barr - Guitar

Joe Grass - Guitar

Parker Shper (Thus Owls) - Keyboards

Katie Moore

Li'l Andy

Steve Hill

The other one (Jason Sharp solo)

Brown eyed women (Brad vocals)

Tennessee Jed (Katie Moore)

Box of Rain (Katie Brad Joe vocals)

Ripple (single mic)

Easy wind (w/ Peter Mika and someone else?)

Me and my uncle

Sugaree (w/ Steve Hill) >

Scarlet

Mexicali (solo piano)

Dire Wolf (notre Dame de Grace)

New Speedway Boogie (lil Andy)

FOD (lil Andy w/JG on pedal steel) - arrangement was different than anything I've ever heard

Casey (Andy) - arrangement was LIT

St Stephen (Brad) >

Drums

Space

ChinaDoll (Joe vocals)

Truckin (w/ everybody)

Brokedown palace (Brad Joe Katie)

Bid you goodnight