Brooklyn Eats it Up (review) by philipGtaylor

17april’15

We stumbled in to Brooklyn Eats, an Astoria bar just down the street from my apartment, drawn by the music blasting from inside. My roommates and I were actually heading to a different bar, but we couldn’t resist the delightful blend of reggae/rock/funk delivered by the 4-piece band Daredevil’s of the Red Circle.

I was initially intrigued by frontman Tony D -- an older man who danced like a groovy 20-something, drawing in the crowd with his vocals that were more full of confidence and pleasure than with outright talent. He sauntered, swung and strutted up and down the narrow, hallway-like room, gyrating hips and making suggestive eye contact with the patrons eating and drinking at the tables along the sides of the room.

Once I got over my initial fascination with Tony D, I couldn’t help notice the guitar player, Andre, who wore his influence on his sleeve--- literally. His Jimi Hendrix tee was an obvious choice for this player, as he ripped his lefty electric with a skill that would make the rock-idol proud. In fact, Andre played with even more energy than I have heard Hendrix muster. This was an interesting contrast to the very funk-heavy bass played by Kevin, nicknamed “thunder thumbs” by the band, who grooved in the background with such ability that I was astonished that his levels were not louder, and his playing not put more to the forefront.

But the real star of the evening, in my mind, was Kristen, the drummer. With so many varying sounds and moving parts to the band, Kristen kept everything together, beating out the rhythms with remarkable talent, hitting every complex beat with such precision that once I payed attention to her, I couldn’t give my full focus to any of the other players. She rocked the set with a smile on her face all the while as she and Kevin jammed out to the percussive aspect of the songs. It was a great pleasure to see a young white woman standing out with such ability in a group otherwise made up of black men --- it is sadly all too uncommon to see a woman in an otherwise all-male rock group, but the fact is that without Kristen and her outstanding skills on the drum set, Daredevil’s of the Red Circle would likely collapse under its musical diversity.

The Daredevil’s play at Brooklyn Eats fairly regularly, and seeing their set (as well as enjoying the delicious food) is well worth the trip out to Astoria. I know that I’ll be there again, and I hope to see you there!