The Brothers Comatose wake up full room at Crystal Bay

A band called The Brothers Comatose was called upon to snap back to life full, non-socially distanced concerts at the Crystal Bay Casino.

The San Francisco bluegrass and country rockers did just that when it headlined two-straight evenings last weekend in the Crown Room, which was devoid of chairs separated into pods for the first time since early March 2020.

“Happy Saturday!” guitarist-singer Ben Morrison greeted the second night audience. “It’s good to see a full-capacity room full of people!”

From the moment the first musical note was played, and for the next 80 minutes, the room was an explosive dance party.

“The BroCo” started the celebration with “Angeline,” “Knoxville Foxhole,” “Pie for Breakfast,” “Trippin’ on Down,” “120 East” and “City Pounded Gold.”

Ben Morrison is a man with a flirtatious smile and smooth voice. He grabs the audience’s attention with his charm and talent. Brother Alex Morrison plays the banjo and adds harmonious vocals.

Philip Brenzina is a fiddle player extraordinaire. Greg Fleischut plays the mandolin and steel guitar. Scott Padden plays stand-up bass and contributes to the harmonies with his vocals.

BroCo released a single this week: “To Many Places” released by Swamp Jam Records. A studio album will be released next year. The Morrison brothers and Padden sing smooth and easy three-part harmonies. Brenzina did an exciting fiddle solo that everyone loved. There was a three-part spicy jam with the fiddle, guitar and bass that rocked the room.

The Brothers Comatose were called back to the stage for two encore jams. On the first, they pulled a beautiful young woman named Talia out of the audience to sing with them.

When the show concluded, Ben Morrison said, “Tahoe is the best place in the world to play! We Love Tahoe!”

-Marcia Schultz

• The Brothers Comatose
  Crystal Bay Casino
  July 3, 2021
  Angeline
  Knoxville Foxhole
  Pie For Breakfast
  Trippin’ on Down
  120 East
  City Painted Gold
  Get Me Home
  The Ballad of Tommy Decker (Prince of Haight)
  Valerie
  Soft & Blue
  Swamp Jam
  The Van Song
  The Way the West Was Won
  Too Many Places
  Tops of the Trees
  I’ll Never Grow Old
  And For The Encores…
  Morning Time
  The Scout