Photo Highlights: Town Mountain at Pearl Street Warehouse

Town Mountain performs at Peart Street Warehouse during the venues one year anniversary on Friday, October 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. Photo By: Anthony Washington

Town Mountain performed and helped Pearl Street Warehouse celebrate its one year anniversary this past Friday, October 12. This was also the release date of the bands latest single, “One Drop In The Bottle”, off of their new album New Freedom Blues which will be the bands sixth studio album. The album is set to be released on October 26.

The North Carolina based string band is no stranger to playing at Pearl Street Warehouse. The band played a gig at the venue on October 14, 2017 just two days after the venue opened last year.

If you like a venue that provides an intimate atmosphere without being too small, Pearl Street Warehouse is a great place to see a show.

As I walked into Pearl Street Warehouse for the first time, there was a bar to my right, that looked like it was open to anyone during the show, and a small area with several tables where people were enjoying food and drink to my left. This area had a diner like feeling to it to me. The only thing that separated the bar/dining area from the performance space was a clear “garage door” that eventually would be raised up near the end of the night. As you enter the venue, it’s not a long walk from the bar/dining area to the performance area. I took an immediate left after I walked past the bar and the entrance for the performance area of the venue was right there. If you are not paying attention you can easily walk right by it.

The performance area of the venue is two levels. On the first level there’s the bar, the stage, and some general admission tables with service. Also, the side of the bar that faces the outside of the venue opens up so they can take walk up service from outside of the venue. The second level has more tables with service too and it partially hangs over top of the first level.

As I always do, I arrived soon after the house opened at 7:00 pm to get a feel for the venue, the lighting and where could capture photos from during the concert. The crowd upon arrival was thin, but the crowd size grew as expected as it got closer to show time.

Opening for Town Mountain was Virginia native Gina Clowes who played a short-set that unfortunately was hindered by sound issues. The instrumentation was loud and clear, but the vocal mix was hard to hear when she was talking or singing. I am not sure if it was the microphone, which looked like it was directional, or the sound engineer. Outside of the vocals, Gina Clowes and the two musicians who joined her, one on mandolin and one on guitar, played a solid set. I wish for her sake that the vocal mix would have been better. When audiences can’t really hear a musician well, they start talking and having conversations with those around them and that is what happened whenever she sang a song or talked.

When Town Mountain took the stage all of the sound issues disappeared and the crowd grew to fill the venue. The 5 piece band consisting of Phil Barker on mandolin and vocals, Robert Greer on vocals and guitar, Jesse Langlais on banjo and vocals, Bobby Britt on fiddle, and Zach Smith on Bass, received a warm welcome from the audience as they took the stage after a quick change over. Following a few brief hello’s and congratulations to Pearl Street Warehouse for their one year anniversary, the band jumped into their set for the night.

The band played to a crowd that danced throughout most of the night as they heard uptempo favorites such as “Arkansas Gambler”, “Up The Ladder”, “Tar Heel Boys”, “Tick On The Dog” and “Bird Call” which the entire band really showed their musical chops on. The band even played music off of their upcoming album New Freedom Blues, including their newest single “One Drop In The Bottle” and “New Freedom Blues”. Overall, the band played a 20 song set as well as an encore.

My favorite moment of the night was when the band played my favorite Town Mountain song, Lawdog, in which Phil Barker takes the spotlight. The first time I heard this song is when the band played the song at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country back in 2012.

You know a band has done their job when those in attendance are smiling, having a great time, and losing themselves in the musical moments created by the artist on stage. Town Mountain put on an excellent show and they are worth seeing if you are fan of music in general.

The band will continue their current tour in support of their new album New Freedom Blues through December. Also, Town Mountain returns to the DC on January 18, 2019 when they play at The Hamilton,

More Photos:

Jesse Langlais of the band Town Mountain performs at Pearl Street Warehouse during the venues 1 year anniversary on Friday, October 12, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Zach Smith of the band Town Mountain performs at Pearl Street Warehouse during the venues 1 year anniversary on Friday, October 12, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Bobby Britt of the band Town Mountain performs at Pearl Street Warehouse during the venues 1 year anniversary on Friday, October 12, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Robert Greet of the band Town Mountain performs at Pearl Street Warehouse during the venues 1 year anniversary on Friday, October 12, 2018 in Washington, DC.