review and photos by John A. Wilcox
The Security Project - The Heights At Brother Vic's, South Salem, NY 05/27/18
The venue, The Heights At Brother Vic's, is right off route 123, just over the Connecticut / New York border. A bit past New Canaan, surrounded by beautiful greenery and storybook houses. Once you enter through the huge wooden doors, you find yourself in quite a friendly venue. To your far left is a cozy bar. Right of that is the main room with a stage and tables. Excellent eats & drinks. Relaxed, friendly staff. Vic himself is a cool guy with an obvious love of music. The venue immediately felt like home.
I was there, of course, to see the mighty Security Project give us all an evening of Peter Gabriel music. My 3rd time seeing the current iteration with Jerry Marotta, Trey Gunn, David Jameson, Michael Cozzi, and Happy Rhodes. Set 1 opened with Lay Your Hands On Me. As we all settled in to the show, the band were crisp. The piece felt played in and sharp. Rhodes was in great voice and animated. A fine start. Next was a jaw-dropper for me: Slowburn. I never saw it coming. My heart leapt and I was a 17 year old boy again, full of Clark Kent gosh-wow. It's such a huge number. The outro transitioned deftly into I Don't Remember. Gunn and Cozzi caught my attention with their interplay. Rhodes wove in and out of the sonic tapestry confidently. The wonderfully caustic No Self Control followed with Jameson's keyboard textures underpinning Marotta's massive drums. Rhodes threw in a positively stellar emotional delivery.
Humdrum was up next. Rhodes' vocal led the way , caressing the air over Jameson's keys as the others built toward the massive ending. Buzzes and bugs meant Mother Of Violence. Cozzi's guitar was the bed here. Gunn was subtly compelling. Rhodes nailed it. Goosebump-inducing! And now for something completely different. I had to laugh at Happy Rhodes as she grabbed at the air greedily just behind a waiter as he passed by. A perfect set up for the ever-creepy Intruder. If ever there was a perfect showcase for this ensemble, it's Lead A Normal Life. Huge moments, subtle moments. Propulsion. Simplicity, yet not. Bigosity to coin a new word. A fun, energetic I Have The Touch closes set 1. Great vocal and lots of movement. A break on a high note!
Set 2 began with the ever-exotic The Family And The Fishing Net - headless chickens included. Trey Gunn was splendid here, his low- end work oozing through the piece. David Jameson even pulled out the Eigenharp! Jerry Marotta took lead vocal on a sledgehammer take of On The Air. Bursting with energy from front to back! This was my 3rd time hearing the band cover Kate Bush's Mother Stands For Comfort. Every time it has been different. This time musical notes and phrases shimmered in and out behind the bass and vocal leads. Mesmerizing once again. Family Snapshot, in contrast, struck me as sticking fairly close to the album arrangement. As they say - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Marotta spoke for a bit with us about working with Peter Gabriel for 10 years and working in this band. He then introduced Wallflower as being what he felt was one of Gabriel's finest. An emotion-charged vocal by Rhodes and impeccable performance by the band proved his point. Back, back went the clock to the days of Genesis and the perfect pair of Fly On A Windshield and Broadway Melody Of 1974. The tail end of the latter morphed into Games Without Frontiers - one of two tunes to feature the whistling talents of the band (the other being Intruder). The outro extended into an improv piece that I believe the band calls Of These, Hope. A brilliant finish to set 2!
But wait - there's more! During the encore break, the establishment served us all free chocolate cake! I kid you not. It was some of the best cake I have ever consumed. Marotta once again talked about the band, Gabriel, the venue, the crowd, then introduced a solo spot for David Jameson. Jameson took the stage and left me speechless as he ran through hunks of the Genesis catalogue: Supper's Ready / One For The Vine / The Musical Box / Watcher Of The Skies / Blood On The Rooftops / Firth Of Fifth / A Trick Of The Tail. The latter being the first time I've ever heard so much as a snippet of that song live! This all seamlessly flowed into The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway as the rest of the band rejoined him to blaze through the tune. The final encore was the tribal number The Rhythm Of The Heat. The Security Project proves night after night why they are a must-see band. Don't ever put off seeing them again! Nothing short of astounding!
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