Brothers Lounge Wine Bar with Brent Kirby

I have written a novel thus far today based on my day Saturday.  West Side Market in the morning followed by breakfast at Mi Pueblo.  I would have one or two more to write had the weather been better and I made it out to Reddstone and or the Winchester if it weren't for the roads being snow covered.  We did make it out to Brothers Lounge to see Brent Kirby from the Jack Fords in the Wine Bar, and I was pretty impressed with Mr. Kirby himself and the Wine Bar.  I was also surprised to see one of my photos gracing the flyers for the event which was kind of cool even though they never asked permission.  I had mixed feelings about it for like 2 seconds but with me being an attention whore I really liked it.

It's been a while, like 6 years, since Brothers went through it's reconstruction period.  The old Brothers was a complete dump.  I mean seriously the dregs of society would crawl to this joint.  There were some pretty shady folks that used to hang out at this place, myself included to play the occasional round of darts and drink on the cheap.  I am speculating but based on folklore and witnessing some weirdness with my own eyes booze and beers weren't the only thing being slung at the old Brothers Lounge.  I never thought I utter the words let's go to Brother for a glass of wine, but that's all changed.  I am guessing the renovations to the place were in the 7 figure range.  Three bars including the main bar, the wine bar and the concert hall.  This is if I recall correctly because I only hit the wine bar Saturday night.  

Now here's the issue I have with Brothers and why I never went back after the last time.  They spent a lot of cash on the sound system in the large concert hall room, but they are not listener or fan friendly.  If you actually come here to see a band you are only going to leave pissed.  Maybe it has changed in the main hall.  I don't know.  They always seem to be packed with private parties in the big room or its just packed period.  It's mostly not packed with people to see the bands.  It's packed with people that like to talk, and talk really loud so you can't really enjoy the show.  The Wine Bar was a little different, but barely.  The music at Brothers seems to be nothing more than an afterthought.  They have great local bands that play both sides of the Lounge but it can at times seem like nothing more than background music to loud conversations.

That being said I did not leave pissed Saturday but I think only because we got there early enough to score great seats at the bar very close to the stage.  Had I been in the back I think it would have changed things a bit.  The Wine Room is gorgeous with tin ceiling tiles and rich hardwood all over the place.  The chairs are super comfy.  The service is pretty good but 2 bartenders might not be enough at times.  The wine and beer selection is pretty extensive with a little something for everyone.  They offer 2 ounce flights of 3 wines for $9.00 to sample to find what you are looking for which I thought was very cool.  The menu looked decent but we only had the Wine Board.  It was decent, you got a couple bread rolls in this giant cone shaped thing and a plate with some capicola rolled up, a couple slices of prosciutto, 4 cheese wedges, a smattering of grapes, crackers and craisins which I thought was a little on the tacky side as a fruit offering on a "Market Price" wine board.  The rest of the menu seemed like standard bar food with an upscale twist.  Prices were moderate but nothing stood out that made me say I must come back to try this. 

The reason we came out on a snow covered Saturday night though was to see Brent Kirby who we saw for the first time a couple weeks back do an abbreviated solo set at Ali-Fest at the Town Fryer.  Brent does triple duty with his solo career, and as front man for The Jack Fords and his new Gram Parsons tribute The New Soft Shoe.  He is a very talented musician and singer songwriter.  He does his own material which is excellent and covers of bands like Wilco, Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo and Ryan Adam to name a few.  The way he does his covers you would think he wrote them himself.  He owns the stage and can captivate an audience.  He is a modern day Dylan mixed with a little Jeff Tweedy meets Jack Johnson.  Brent is the kind of guy that would be the center of attention around a campfire slinging his guitar like a master and blowing his harmonica with an equal amount of soul.  He is a professional musician and you can tell he is meant to be on stage.  You can tell he not only enjoys what he does, but he truly gets behind every note he plays and sings.  

The sound at times was hushed by the droning nonstop chatter from the bar patrons.  Again, I have to say at times the music seemed more of an inconvenience to some than entertainment.  I guess that's just the way it is at Brothers though.  Brent drew a nice amount of fans to Brothers on Saturday night but it was about 50/50 on those who wanted to enjoy the show and those who wanted to just hang out and talk.  It is weird going to a bar like this wanting to see a performance.  I am spoiled I think by the many music venues I go to where people are there to watch the bands.  I will say this though, there was no cover and I think with a small door charge it might help remedy that a bit.  So, I didn't have to pay for the show so I shouldn't really harp on it.  

I'd really do plan on seeing Kirby again either solo or with his other projects and possibly booking something under the 52 Weeks of Cleveland banner.  I just think he is that good.  He really gets behind his craft.  He's the kind of guy I'd hang out with and talk music for hours on end with which we did a little bit.  I can't really say I would come back to Brothers without reason though.  It would need to be to see a band or something.  The parking can be challenging, and I am just not part of that scene.  I am there for the music and certainly not the atmosphere.  I am not hating on it although it seems I might be.  I think it is gorgeous lounge.  It is probably one of the nicest looking places I have been to in a while.  I just don't think it is a true music venue.  It's bar first, lounge second in my ever so humble opinion.  They are obviously doing a great business and what they did to the place needs to be applauded at the very least.  So Brothers I truly love what you did with the place but you just missing the mark a bit on the music venue piece of the equation.