Brimstone Flowers

I've never been married, but on a recent Sunday night I felt like a newlywed.
I spent the evening with five men prone to fits of charm and flattery -- and one of their mothers.
I attended dinner at the home of Laurence Zahm, mother of the Brimstone Flowers' bassist, Olivier Zahm.
The alt-rockers, composed of four 20-something Valley men and a manager, are a new band. So much so they seem a little obsessed with each other, like those newly in love.
Our night was like a honeymoon: decadent food, gorgeous surroundings and dining companions smitten with each other.
Formed in January, Brimstone Flowers is vocalist and guitarist David Glazier, drummer Ryan Baker, lead guitarist Chris Forenz and Zahm, along with manager Bryan Hamby.
When they met, the men had tired of being in bands with members who weren't as dedicated or as talented -- like dating without meeting anyone ready to commit.
Now they've practically moved in together.
The night before our dinner, they'd stayed up until 5 a.m. recording in a north Phoenix home studio, something that happens "all the time." They play at least six days a week, recording tracks from their upcoming EP and practicing for shows, which leads to undone laundry, unchecked voice mails, forgotten friends.
"We were all in bands with people who couldn't keep up with us, and now we all move together as fast as we can," Glazier said.
But things were serious from the start, I learn, as I watch the men noodle on their guitars before dinner.
Glazier is with Olivier Zahm, Forenz and Baker on two couches in the living room, which is appointed with modern art and chinoiserie. He explains that the first time he and Zahm played guitar and worked out songs, they went on for hours, forgetting to eat. So Zahm took Glazier to his mom's nearby for dinner. (That's right, Glazier met Zahm's mom on their first band-date.) Laurence Zahm made seared foie gras with pears and apples poached in white wine, of course.
Glazier and Zahm's chemistry is palpable when they practice.
Glazier's voice slides over notes and the two work up harmonies to match, sounding as velvety and comforting as creme brulee. In 45 minutes, they've worked out three songs. But this is what they expect. They had five encores at their last show, but only one song ready, so they made up the other four.
For dinner, we started with pan-seared scallops over mixed greens with bacon dressing. Then roast beef, haricots vert, portobello mushrooms, roasted potato chunks and French bread.
Then, three cheeses, with more bread, followed by strawberries and whipped cream.
Laurence Zahm, whom her son describes as a one-woman Cordon Bleu, does this several times a week.
After, we sat for a half-hour in a food coma before inertia released its grasp and we went to the Dubliner's open-mike night.
The Brimstone Flowers was the only band amid bed-headed men skiffing through originals and latter-day frat brothers covering Dave Matthews Band songs.
The four arranged themselves onstage. Zahm, in combat boots, slacks and a button-down, sits with his bass, all lips and legs and dark eyes. Forenz, in front of him, is lean and muscled with stylish jeans and a goatee. Baker is in back, broad and powerful, with a ponytail down his back that swings as he plays.
Glazier stakes out the front of the stage, slender hips forward, ready for his close-up, with long lashes and full lips. He sounds like poet-rocker Jeff Buckley at times, but finishes songs with Bono-worthy moments of anthemic shouting.
The crowd cheers wildly.
They might be in love, too. - Author: Megan Finnerty, The Arizona Republic