When you’re in a familiar place like Off Broadway, sometimes a band seems familiar even though you’re positive you’ve never seen them before. That was the feeling I had when I first laid eyes on Fairchildren Monday night. As I stood there listening to the thick music coming from the cramped stage, I finally realized why this band seemed so familiar. This was Nathanial Rateliff’s backing band. I’ve always been impressed with the textures they add to Rateliff’s songs and I am even more impressed with them as their own band. Their even mix of funky keyboards, upright bass, sometimes whimsical guitar, a marching drum beat and Julie Davis’ steady voice makes for a great live presence and keeps your ears listening for subtleties. They’ll be back in town on November 4th with Gregory Alan Isakov at the Old Rock House, so make sure you’re there in time.

Vetiver started their set out with a cover of The Go-Betweens “Streets of Your Town”. After the song, front man Andy Cabic told us that he was out for a walk earlier in the day and while he was admiring the streets of St. Louis, he noticed our city smelled like pot roast. I personally really like pot roast, so I took this as a good thing. For the rest of his set, he would continue to treat us with hints of Grateful Dead riffs and a laid back JJ Cale-esqe style of making music. My wife made the comment that this would be great music to listen to while riding down the highway with the windows down, but I think a palm tree lined boulevard or a gentle coastal two lane would be a better fit.

Fruit Bats kicked off their set with the easy groove of “You’re Too Weird” off their latest album Tripper. The chorus of “I’m the only one to believe in you…” is still stuck in my head today as I write this and that’s what I love about this band. They’re just the right combination of poppy folk with just enough jam band influences to insure they won’t play straight from the album. There’s nothing wrong with a little Wharf Rat every now and again. They continued to showcase the new songs for the first half of the set before digging into their older material. They capped it off with “Flamingo”, one of my favorites from The Rumination Band.