Tin Angel PA

A duo is probably the most efficient way to describe Francis singing and playing guitar, with Tom on keys. I have reviewed several acoustic shows in pint-size venues before. Some have outperformed my expectations, others just seem to fade into the noise of claustrophobia.

An innocuous stage setup lay before me at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia.
I had never seen Francis Dunnery perform until that night. I am of course somewhat familiar with Tom Brislin’s career. Mr Dunnery it seems has had a fairly illustrious musical career, being the frontman for sometimes rock, other times pop, but mostly ProgRock band It Bites during the ‘80s. It Bites had a fair amount of success including a #6 with song ‘Calling All Heroes’ on the UK Singles Chart. According to what I read online, his career also saw him hobnob with some significant names in the British ProgRock scene, such as Chris Squire and Robert Plant.
His most current projects are his solo performances and the recently formed New Progressives. The latter it seems, has as its mission, to develop a new approach to progressive rock.

Prog music has its roots in the British movement against pop and rock music of the late ’60’s/early ‘70s. Those who championed this style chose to push the boundaries in composition and live performance; hence the term progressive. Many iterations later, prog music has in many ways become more of a show than a movement. I would very much like the opportunity to sit down with Mr Dunnery to discover what he thinks he has added to the ProgRock repertoire; so Francis, give me a call.

In both of Francis’ current projects, you find Tom Brislin on keyboards. Highly sought-after in the prog community for good reason; he proved his mettle soon after leaving college by playing with artists such as Glen Burtnik, Meat Loaf, and Yes, even finding time to garner reasonable commercial success with his own (indie) band Spiraling. Tom has also pursued the solo route singing and playing keyboards. This inspired talent’s new career direction is worth keeping an eye out for.

On this snowy night in Midtown Philadelphia, The Tin Angel was packed like sardines. The opening act came in the form of ‘John and Wayne’. John Dunnery and his cohort Wayne Wilkinson, a duo from Cumbria UK, possessed the type of humour I immediately related to. I’m born and bred Australian and understand having one’s misfortunes turned into limericks and songs.

Francis Dunnery on guitar, Tom Brislin on keyboards

Time for the main event. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the lad who hailed from Egremont, Cumberland UK, and who now resides in the USA. But the Tin Angel had the right atmosphere to break the proverbial ice and the crowd warmed up almost immediately to Francis’ dry humour and ribbing, his lyrics about mid life crisis and the very real but oft left unspoken turmoil surrounding love and life; all wrapped up in the most likely musical vessel for these expressions; soft rock ballads.

But this I wanted to tell Francis with a smile, stop making fun of the toilets Down Under.

The parred down arrangement allowed some sensitive guitar playing by Francis and perceptive keyboard work by Tom to shine through. The duo will be playing at Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville PA, Saturday 27th Feb and R H Tugs Waterfront Restaurant & Bar at Staten Island NY, Sunday 28th Feb. Shows start at 8:30pm on Saturday and 7:30pm on Sunday.

If this weekend’s gig is anything like the one I saw in Dec of last year, you’ll be hooting and howling along with Francis as he edges you on with his music and his wit. Not to be left out is Tom, equally entertaining in a supporting role as he is singing lead. I hope to catch the New Progressives live .

Video Clip #1 : Francis and Tom



Video Clip #2 : Francis & Tom, with opening act John & Wayne


Photos & videos (c) 2010 Shueh-li Ong (unless specified, all articles written by Shueh-li Ong bear the photography, videography and digital work of its author.