The Bob Pratte Band took the stage at the Village Trestle in Goffstown, New Hampshire last night for a birthday event honoring local guitarist Scot Gibbs. Bob Pratte Band are a local favorite and kept up a high energy, quality delivery all night, their song selection straddling blues, classic rock, and pop rock, pulling out songs from multiple decades. The band’s line-up is a four-piece: singer Danielle Jean Cowan, guitarist Bob Pratte, bassist Angelo Mullen, and drummer John Medeiros Jr.
Pratte turned this gig into a semi-jam night by allowing many of Gibbs’ local colleauges to come up and strut their stuff, and Gibbs has a lot of friends in these parts.
“Stormy Monday” featured local guitar hero Tim O’Connor getting down and dirty with his fierce fret work, his phrases blaring like a horn instrument. LauraJean Graham held down the low end on four string while saxophonist Howie Fohlin found the groove and let his melody line prance around it. It helps a song like this when Bob Pratte sang it with that authentic blue-eyed soul that many other singers can only dream of.
Drummer Rick King powered the blues tune “2:00 A.M. with his snappy technique while Amberly Gibbs(wife of the birthday boy) crooned in an even-tempered belt until she got more frenetic near the end of the song. Mr. Gibbs nailed the guitar phrase perfectly and he played the rest clear and precise. Another sax player, Carl Benevides, got the big horn blaring thing going on.
Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets To Paradise” found Bob Pratte nailing the pop rock melody and bass player Angelo Mullen nailed the smooth flowing vocal approach.
The Bob Pratte Band’s usual lead singer, Danielle Jean Cowan, proved her mettle with a slightly bluesy, slightly raspy vocal on Pratte’s breezy, jazzy interpretation on “Some Kind Of Wonderful.” Cowan belts with style and that made a huge difference with this rendition of the Grand Funk Railroad classic. Mr. Pratte got his 1980s groove on with the Violent Femmes’ “Blister In The Sun.” Pratte got a charge out of his guitar with the bouncy rhythms of this Reagan era classic.
Turning up the fun, the Pratte band took on Big & Rich Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy, and it helped that bass player Bill Ingles showed up to handle the country-funk groove. Ingles was also a plus on the Bill Withers’ piece, “Use Me,” with sax boy Howie Fohlin returning to the band. One song later, Frohlin teamed up with Benevides for a dual sax attack during the Chicago version of Spencer Davis’ “I’m A Man.” The two sax players made it easy for listeners to relate it to the Chicago take as their big, blaring, full sound recreated the same feeling. Pratte rocked out on the guitar solo with a high intensity interpretation of what to do with those tight intervals of notes.
Drummer John Medeiros Jr. came aboard for numbers like Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish.” Medeiros kept it funky and danceable while lead singer Danielle Jean Cowan got huskier in her vocal delivery. Cowan kept up the high octane delivery when the band closed out with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” where she got appropriately forceful.
As most music events at the Village Trestle, the musicians sailed over the friendly, funky vibe of that room. There is a special feeling in the Trestle that cannot be completely described or explained in words. Perhaps the bar was built over an ancient tribal area where Native American’s smoked peace pipes and danced to honor the spirits of all who came before them. Perhaps it’s just a room that attracts cool people because the owners are very nice. Yet, whatever that vibe comes from, the room makes it possible for the events to draw a huge crowd and to keep them happy for four solid hours of music.
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