The Heavenly Bodies of Saint Bernadette

The story of Bernadette Soubirous is as follows. In 1858, a young girl outside of Lourdes,

Saint Bernadette at the Acoustic Cafe. From L to R: Keith Saunders, Meredith DiMenna Saunders, Dave Valle, Tim Edgar and Joe Novelli - Photo by Amanda Bloom France has a vision of a woman bearing striking resemblance to the Virgin Mary. No one believes the young girl, and her home is searched for drugs. A room is prepared for young girl at local psych ward. Before she can be committed, however, something happens: people begin to believe. They begin to see, if not the exact vision Bernadette experienced, the inspiring purity of her faith and the amazing results of her prophecy. At the expressed desire of the Mother Mary, Bernadette digs a hole in the ground, unearthing a spring that heals the sick, gives solace to the weak and provides hope to the masses. Millions flock to the site of Bernadette’s visions so that they may be saved. Eventually, the young girl grows old and dies. She is made a saint. Faith and love have prevailed over skepticism and doubt.

Little did Bernadette know that centuries later, her name would be invoked by a rock band across the Atlantic Ocean. She probably wouldn’t be surprised–no one believed Keith Saunders and Meredith DiMenna Saunders when they saw a vision in the grey concrete and decrepit edifices of downtown Bridgeport. “People thought we were crazy to set up in Bridgeport,” says DiMenna Saunders. “But we saw its potential. We saw the healing waters where others didn’t.” And thus, the band “Saint Bernadette” was born.

The band’s religious fascination doesn’t end with their connection to Soubirous; they are also interested in contemporary religion’s sometimes antiquated and irrelevant message. “A lot of times the ceremony of the ‘sit, stand, kneel’ structure of religion can distract people from really getting the message. We feel like people can sometimes miss the point when it comes to modern spirituality and how people assemble and express their beliefs...so we wrote our own commandments,” explained Saunders. They then enlisted the help of a Bridgeport venue to help promulgate their message of peace.

On Sunday, December 13, Saint Bernadette turned the Acoustic Cafe into a chapel to celebrate the release of their fourth studio effort, Cover Thy Neighbor, a collection of covers of Connecticut-based musicians. The event was dubbed “Sunday Mass” and attendees were given a program detailing the “Order of Mass.”

The “Introductory Rites” were performed by New Jersey rock/blues outfit Only Living Boy and a comedic “Homily” was performed by Matt Levine, a.k.a The Jewish Priest. Of special note was the “Responsorial Psalm” performed by the Danbury grunge blues group, Poverty Hash. Their set was punctuated by the thunderous stomping and torrid gyrations of lead singer Joe Roberto, who, dressed in the vestments of a priest, seemed equally possessed by both the Holy Spirit and Satan, his soulful bark like a grizzly bear after a night of pounding 12-year scotch and Marlboro Reds. The stage was set for the final “Communion Rite,” performed by Saint Bernadette. Keith Saunders, in tandem with bassist Tim Edgar and drummer Dave Valle, created a sonic canvas on which Joe Novelli’s haunting slide guitar lines lilted just below the apogee of Meredith’s transcendent musings and vaudevillian crooning. Novelli plays with a virtuosity that combines the best of the Grand Ole Opry with the space echoes of Jonny Greenwood, resulting in an overall style found nowhere else in Connecticut and rare even for the best Southern fried rock outfits. As the band rolled through covers of songs by 930 Moon, The Zambonis, Diplodocus and Jeff Gitelman, it became evident that it is not just DiMenna Saunders’ stunning vocal command, tireless movement about the stage or shimmering sequined ensemble that endears her to the crowd; it is the immediacy of her engagement with them that enraptures, making everyone in the audience a lightning rod for the electricity of her performance.

“Sunday Mass” was the greatest fulfillment of Saint Bernadette’s vision thus far. Aside from a great turnout (despite nasty weather) and numerous aweinspiring performances, the night’s significance lay with the revelation granted to the audience: they began to see what Keith and Meredith saw years back when they chose Bridgeport as their home base–that music can be the flowing spring to which droves of pilgrims flock, and in the case of Saint Bernadette, where they will be saved by the healing waters of friendship, community and rock and roll. Oh, and cheap drinks.