Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT
October 27, 2006

The show was billed as “The Breakfast’s 8th Annual ‘Fonghoulish Freakout’ Halloween Party and Costume Ball,” and signified a long-awaited homecoming from a lengthy road trip. As a result, the hardwood floor at Toad’s Place rumbled with anticipation as a costumed Breakfast took the stage.
 
There was no introduction, no welcome speeches and no banter to open the show. The band got right down to business, opening with a highly danceable drum beat from drummer Adrian Tramontano that pulsated alone for a few moments before the band launched into its opener, “May Fly Disarray.” The music was relentless and injected energy into an already intense, costumed crowd.

Early into its first set, the band launched into the highly progressive “Psygn,” which is the opening track on the new album, Moxie Epoxy.  If the studio recording captured half the energy in the live performance of the song, it should be a great opener. Still in the first set, the band embarked on a jam at the end of “See the Light,” worth noting for Ron Spears’ bouncing bass line and the brilliant, ambient color provided by Tim Palmieri’s guitar. On the next song, an up-tempo 12-bar blues called “Tricky Ways,” Palmieri did double duty, soloing on both guitar and keyboards, and proving to be equally impressive on both.

The second set belonged to drummer Tramontano. His mid-set drum solo was jaw-dropping, and he added both complexity and intensity to the second set’s straight-ahead rock covers, Grand Funk Railroad’s “American Band” and Nirvana’s “Lithium.”

The highlight of the night was the funky (and a bit silly) original tune “Taboo or Not Taboot,” which fit in nicely with the lunacy of the band and the added comic relief of their costumes: Palmeiri as Jimi Hendrix, complete with a four-foot diameter afro wig; Spears as some sort of bizarre nutcracker with indescribable futuristic glasses; and Tramontano cleverly disguised as the drummer for The Breakfast. 

“Taboo or Not Taboot” also showed what had been evident throughout the night: When it comes to pure musicianship, the members of The Breakfast can stand up with any jam or progressive band in America.

Photo Credit : Jacklyn Greenberg

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