Marah in Fireman's Kitchen in Hickory, NC

Roaches, termites and bats fled Hickory, NC, in panic tonight as the band Marah cleansed the city with seismological vibrations from the Fireman’s Kitchen. The performance featured the powerfully over-boosted throb of debonaire Johnny Pisano on bass, sweet nuances from electric Christine Smith on Rolaids Machine, accordion and harmonica, and discouraging words about the city of Hickory from wispy Dave Bielanko on guitar, banjo, stomp, grimace and vocal as the group (minus a couple of their regulars) wends it way through the great music capitals of the world, coming from Raleigh into Hickory en-route to Charlotte.


Bielanko sang some wonderfully memorable songs such as “I Suppose We Will Get Through This”, “I Think I Am Going Deaf”, “Sometimes This Happens to All Bands”, “Get Off My Stage I’m Doing a Gig”, and “Well, We Will Try to Do a Performance Anyway”. The 40 some odd members of the audience responded politely. He also chastised Farrah Fawcett for dying the same day as Michael Jackson with some crude remarks which he later said he should retract.

It was clear that the performance was well received by those present, and the presentation by Pisano was excellent. Bielanko was kaleidoscopic and Christine Smith was versatile. I enjoyed the show and hated to see it end even though they actually played for a little over an hour.