The CONCERT thread

[dookeyXXX]

Willy Vlautin
https://www.willyvlautin.com
5/28/24 @ Sundance Books and Music, Reno

Mr. Vlautin is one of my favorite authors, so when I learned that he would be performing and reading at the closing celebration of Sundance Books, I rallied to get down there.
Not sure when he went on as the store's website made it sound like there were DJs spinning before him, but I got to the venue at 6:30 and he was already strumming away on the front porch.
I caught him for 30-minutes, during which he played three songs and between them read excerpts from his forthcoming new novel, The Horse.
He delivers sad, introspective songs--he even kept quipping between songs that his style probably wasn't the most upbeat for a celebratory event--with rustic charm.
If you haven't read any of his books, I highly recommend them (start with Motel Life, but The Free is my favorite of his that I've read so far).

[dookeyXXX]

Wand - https://wand.bandcamp.com/music
6/2/24 @ The Holland Project, Reno, NV
https://hollandreno.org/explore/


This Los Angeles quartet have graced the stage at the intimate Holland Project regularly over the past several years, yet I've always managed to miss the gigs. Well, I finally made it to one last night and was not disappointed.
They unleash a mash of prog psychedelia tinged with Laurel Canyon twang, Paisley pop, and drone and squonk.
Lottsa sweet guitar noodling buffered by silky tenor vocals and a solid backend of bass and drums.
Highly recommended.
I only snapped two rather shitty pix as this was one of the first shows I've attended in the cellphone/social media era where virtually nobody had their phones out! Everybody was completely in the moment with the band, which was cool as f#$k (and I didn't want to be the douche on his phone wrecking the scene). The few people who did take photos either moved to the back, the side, or crouched down in front so as not to obstruct the views of the rest of us.
As for the venue? It's like seeing a band in your dad's garage. Not sure of the capacity, but there were about 75 folks there last night, so it was small and cozy. Great sound for such a compact room, too.

[MarsB]

Sorry, no pix (I’m one of those anal Gen Zers ...

Yeah, I was lucky enough to see PG on the second leg of his Plays Live Tour in 1985 at The Greek in Berkeley.

These two statements are highly contradictory.

[dookeyXXX]

These two statements are highly contradictory.

Good eye!
Though if I were a character in a Rick and Morty episode that would have made sense, what with time traveling and such…

[dookeyXXX]

Starcrawler https://www.starcrawlermusic.com
Opening act: NIIS
Venue: Harlow's Starlet Room, midtown Sacramento, CA
Date: Thursday, June 6, 2024

I can't quite remember how I stumbled upon Starcrawler, but I got intrigued by their vibe via several of their online videos. Enough so that I decided to plunk down the $24-and-some-change (thanks online fees!) to drive an hour-and-a-half down from the mountains to see them the other night.
I arrived at the venue around 8:45, just in time to catch the last song-and-a-half from the opening act, NIIS. Not being familiar with them, I had checked out their vibe via a few YouTube videos and found them not much to my liking, thus I had purposely timed my entrance to skirt their set. They were certainly energetic and LOUD and had commanded a pretty decent mosh pit up in front. The lead singer spoke in this pixieish voice, but sang like a demon possessed.
I had been to Harlow's once before to see Luna several years. ago, but had never been to this addition, a smaller upstairs venue. The main venue is pretty intimate, this is even more so. To give you an idea, the band had to walk through the audience to get to the stage; I can't recall if I have ever been to a show where that happens.
I found a spot pretty close to the front, though far enough back to avoid any fluid tossing from the lead singer (I had read that Starcrawler's frontwoman liked to spit, throw water and other fluids, and heckle her audiences; I'm too old for that shit, so stood off to the side near the rhythm guitarist ).
My buddy describes Starcrawler's sound as "Bubblegum Hole," which I guess fits if you have only watched their videos and listened to their studio albums. Live, they come off more like an LA version of Zeke, thought their style is quasi-glam country and their sound is sleazy rock augmented by Laurel Canyon twang.
Vocalist Arrow de Wilde is charismatic AF. The DNA of Mick, Iggy, and Alice is definitely boiling through her blood as her lanky frame writhed and pranced around the small stage. Her demeanor was mildly antagonistic (she referred to all assembled as Ball Sacks, making a pun on the state capital's name, Sacramento). She wandered into the crowd at one point, snatched a cap off some dude's head, put it on, lept back onstage and tossed it glibly back into the crowd. She later instigated a mosh pit herself, and also doused the front row with water.
The rest of the band played straight men to her wild woman act and kept the music on open throttle. Lead guitarist Henri Cash had a nice little arsenal of axes, ranging from a vintage Flying V, to a semi-hollow Gretsch, and a custom-made 3-string guitar. he plays with unbridled energy, jumping up on his monitor to play leads (he smacked his head on the low-hanging ceiling speakers more than once) and even ventured out into the small crowd for a solo at one point. Rhythm guitarist Bill Cash had a couple nice hand-painted Teles, plus a cool pink encrusted pedal steel guitar. The rhythm section of Tim Franco (bass) and Seth Carolina (drums), kept the low-end throbbing nicely for the band's hour and 10-minute super-charged set.
For the second encore Henri Cash brought an approximately 8-year old little girl onstage (it was an all-ages show) and let her flail on his guitar. While not of the caliber of Dave Grohl's schtick of bringing audience members onstage at Foo Figher's gigs, mostly because the little girl looked kind of scared, it was still cool to watch Cash encourage her to wail on his axe.
Their set was short, sweet, but always on full-tilt.
I'd definitely see these cats again.

The calm before the storm (the band really digs the color pink, btw)