Beach Bum at a Bowling Alley

I saw Donavon Frankenreiter tonight at Brooklyn Bowl for the first time since February of 2005. I've been pretty disappointed with his last few albums, but a $10 ticket pressured me to go. I'm glad I went. Beach bum Donavon definitely looked the part with his trademark mustache, stubble, and wild surfer hair. From the neck down, he resembled a sort of professional wrestler: turquoise necklaces, tight pants bedecked with colorful symbols and female bodies, snakeskin boots. The band started off positively funky with the Stevie Wonder-esque "Move by Yourself" right into "The Way It Is." Bringing out the first of what would be many of his debut albums cuts, he mellowed it out a bit with "Bend in the Road." Switching out his upside-down electric for an acoustic, he then totally surprised me by playing "Lovely Day" off the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack. It was all golden from there, aside from a little-too-lazy cover of Tom Petty's "American Girl" and this one guy in the crowd singing the wrong lyrics when given the mic in "It Don't Matter."

Let me interrupt to say that the crowd was not my favorite. Even if you are sporting a fake mustache (available at the merch table for $1), it doesn't give you the right to talk the whole time and show your friend unrelated pictures on your phone. When the concert's at a bowling alley, and you're the most annoying noise, you're too fucking loud.

Donavon came back solo acoustic for an encore of "Call Me Papa," with the band joining in halfway through. The night came to a close with "Free," the Jack Johnson verse supplied by opener Seth Pettersen.

DONAVON FRANKENREITER – 07.18.11 – BROOKLYN BOWL (1 hour, 18 minutes)

SET –

Move by Yourself / The Way It Is / Bend in the Road / Lovely Day / Life, Love, & Laughter / Your Heart / Hold On / What’cha Know About / On My Mind / Glow / Too Much Water / Heading Home / Swing on Down / American Girl / It Don’t Matter / That’s Too Bad (Byron Jam)

ENCORE –

Call Me Papa / Free (feat. Seth Pettersen)