Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, with Hoots & Hellmouth, 9/18/08, at Knuckleheads

Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band

Better than: Moonshine in a Mason jar.

By MATT SPENCER

The beautiful evening started with…nothing. According to Sean Hoots, this is traditional for opening band Hoots & Hellmouth. Their first number, which consists of standing and chatting with the audience, gets everyone comfy and family like. They burst into their set in a fast rhythm that sets the pace for a full run through bluegrass, soul, blues, and spirituals. Sean Hoots and Andrew Gray on guitars, and Robert Berliner on a really sexy mandolin form the core of the Philadelphia group, with a rolling cast of bassists and percussionists filling in the spaces. This tour, John Branigan thumped the bass, all members standing on wooden pallets with mic’d up tambourines bolted on provided percussion. The more the band stomped and kicked, the bigger the sound got, a unique and impressive solution that allows everyone to keep the guitar strings burning. As a bonus, the trains rolling by 50 feet away shook the patio like a 50-ton metronome.