Many people may not know but besides having an impressive acting career, Kevin Bacon also has a long standing musical career as well. He along with his brother Michael have been fronting the group The Bacon Brothers since the mid 1990’s. They already have amassed 12 album releases in that time. Accompanying both brothers were Tim Quick on lead guitar, Paul Guzzone on bass and Frank Gilardi on drums. The band played on a beautiful summer night for the summer weekly concert series held on Fridays at Batavia Downs.
The 1 hour and 30 minute set consisted of 15 tracks. The band focused mostly on tunes from their last release ‘Ballad of the Brothers,’ which came out in November of 2022. Four cuts were played off of it including the title track. Vocal duties were split all evening between both Michael & Kevin. Kevin handled harmonica on a few tracks including “The Way We Love.” Kevin talked about how he wanted the song “Beneath Perfection” in the movie he starred in called ‘Tremors.” He said, it didn’t quite make the cut. Kevin drove the song “36 Fists” with his harmonica playing. Something unique and interesting happened that I never seen any band do. All but Gilardi (who played percussion) ended up playing a ukulele for the song “Perfect Pitch.” I must say, I ended up enjoying that more than I thought I would have. The band did 2 encores. My favorite performance the band did was for the song “Put Your Hand Up.” Kevin led the crowd for the up-tempo tune and had all the fans rising from their seats and having their hands up for the duration of the song. They continued that momentum in the last song by performing the classic “Footloose,” as Bacon did his famous dance across the stage.
It was the first time I have seen the band live and I will have to say, they definitely held their own. They didn’t focus on outside material (besides the Footloose track) and thought they had the crowds interest from beginning to end. I thought the fans walked away happy and satisfied with one of the highlights from this seasons Batavia Downs 2024 concert series.
Setlist:
Let Me Happen to You Girl
Old Bronco
Tom Petty T-Shirt
Erato
Take Off This Tattoo
Dark Chocolate Eyes
Picker
The Way We Love
Ballad of Brothers (The Willie Door)
Beneath Perfection
36 Cents
Perfect Pitch
She-Zee-Zee (Easy on My Eyes)
Encore:
Put Your Hand Up
Footloose (Kenny Loggins cover)
We would like to thank The Tour Manager Teresa Kahl for The Bacon Brothers in the photo credential and Ryan Hasenauer from Batavia Gaming for the media passses to review the show.
