This show was quite a surprise to me. I went to Vincent's with a group to celebrate the Gabe and there they were. This was root pop at it's best in the perfect setting. They stood in the corner belting out their twang that made me think of Steve Earl, the Jayhawks and all that is good about the genre.

The band, from Boston, featured Paul Candilore on lead guitar, who's strat tone echoed Lost Highway and tasteful lead lines tore right through me. John Cate's songs jumped from old country ballads to killer pop rock. Steve Latt was the Jose Oquendo of the band, jumping around on peddle steel, mandolin and fiddle. A very adaquit player, he did his job of adding color to Cate's fence riding roots pop. The songs at times were a bit repetitive, but you tend to get that when you watch a band playing mostly originals for two hours.





John Cate has released seven albums, who's most recent, "Livin' the Moment", is a great pop twang album (which I need to listen to more to give a fair review to).

I want to thank Dennis Brennen <link> who introduced this band to Vincent's <link>. As a big fan of this genre, it is rare that you see a band of this calliber from the northeast.

John Cate and the Van Gogh Brothers
Vincent's - Worcester MA
December 19, 2004

www.johncate.com