Hootin’ and hollerin’, singin’ and dancin’ were widespread at Union Transfer Thursday night as The Felice Brothers ripped through their high energy set. The upstate New York five piece released Favorite Waitress, their newest album, earlier last month and they came to Philadelphia to show off the new songs. On top of playing some of the best tracks off the new record, The Felice Brothers threw in a few crowd favorites and deeper tracks from older albums as well. Known for never putting on a dull concert, The Felice Brothers kept the night rocking from start to finish!

Opening the show was Nashville’s Robert Ellis. In his last visit to Philadelphia, opening for Deer Tick last November, Ellis was decked out in an all white suit and matching heeled boots to help celebrate his birthday. Thursday night Ellis kept the white theme going, just without the suit and boots. Last fall Ellis proved to be a stand out opener and he kept up that reputation at Union Transfer. Joining him for the night was Kelly Doyle on electric guitar and together they impressed and wowed the crowd.

“You guys are making New York City look foolish,” Ellis told the crowd early on. If there’s any way for a new act to win over a crowd in Philadelphia, it’s bashing New York. Early on, after expressed his displeasing pre-show pizza, Ellis played a few of his slower, more graceful tunes. Songs like “Only Lies” and “Steady as the Rising Sun” demonstrated Ellis’ buttery smooth voice. As the night went on things sped up and the energy and emotion intensified. This all led up to the closer “Sing Along”, a fast paced country tune that featured a short guitar duel between Ellis and Doyle. The song, dedicated to Ornette Coleman, was one of the many highlights during Ellis’ short set and ending things on quite the high note.

The Felice Brothers came out with no intro. There were no long hellos or extended stories. They didn’t even say who they were. The five of them just came out and went right into playing the first beginning notes of “Butch Cassidy”. From that moment on, the Felice Brothers made Thursday night at Union Transfer one heck of a good time for everyone who came out.

While they were on the road supporting their new record, Favorite Waitress, their setlist included a career spanning number of tunes. Crowd favorites like “Whiskey In My Whiskey” had the entire room singing along. Off the new record, they played songs that already seemed like crowd favorites. Hits like the breezy, easy going “Cherry Licorice” and “Chinatown” showed to the band that the songs fit in right along with the old. Speaking of the old, they reached far back to tunes like “Murder by Mistletoe” to give their most established fans a bit of a treat.

To close things out, Robert Ellis came out to assist the band on “Penn Station” and “Sail Away Ladies”. As the end bid their adieus and left the stage, the crowd roared until they came back. For the final song of the night, the Felice Brothers went back to Adventures of the Felice Brothers, Vol. 1 for the song “Where’d You Get the Liquor”. While the encore may have been a bit short, it left the fans yearning and wanting more from the group. But for now, the sounds of the new album will have to hold them over.

Read our interview with The Felice Brothers, posted here last week.