Swale, Lendway, Lounge Act, And A Little Cave Bees At Nectar’s And Signal Kitchen July 14, 2012

Words by Tim Lewis.

I got out of work at 8, stopped home for a bit of dinner, then headed downtown. I made it to Nectar’s and got a drink just as Swale were letting their tuning up, turn into the first song. It was that, sort of, new one, that starts really slow, then just rises and rises and rises, then ebbs back to the beginning. The night had begun. Next up they went Old School with a mellow countryish song. Good Medicine started slow, but when it hit the middle it was rocking hard. Jeremy and Amanda sang a cool one, as Eric ripped it up on guitar. They kept up the heavy pace for a few, including one with a pretty staggering number of changes. It was hard to follow, but fun trying. After that, Amanda said something about after playing such a complicated song, they would play one that she wrote with 3 chords. Lost was super sweet and just soared in the middle. They played a couple more rockers to wrap up the night. There’s nothing like seeing a bunch of bands in one evening and getting your moneys worth on the first one. It so great to have them back and playing out so often.

Having not played out too much lately, Lendway were up next. I chatted with Michael Clifford earlier and he said this was their first show since he broke his collar bone. To make it a challenge, it was the shoulder that his guitar strap hangs on. Instead of canceling, they structured the set to include a little less of his guitar, and went on with the rock. Their first couple of songs felt like a cool musical breeze blowing through your mind. Very smooth, very elegant. They picked up the pace a bit and let loose the rock and roll for the next few. Drummer Todd Gervy, and bassist Kevin Lynam were rock solid all night long. Lead guitarist Matt Hagen seared and soared, like he always does. He knows where to put all the killer notes, and never lets a rock fan down. I need to make an effort to see these guys more often.

Despite how good they were, I knew the Cave Bees were going on at 11 at Signal Kitchen. I ducked out a bit after 11, and walked down the street. The Bees were playing a furious punk song when I arrived. They were great. They wrapped it up, said good night, and took off the guitars. I said a quick hello, and Rebekah said they went on earlier than planned. Rats! I raced out the door and back to Nectars to catch the end of the Lendway set. They wrapped it with a Shark Victim song that really rocked. I’m torn. I should have blown off Lendway to see the Bees, and might have if I knew when they really were going on. I should have blown off the Bees to see the full Lendway set, but as a music fan, you do the best you can.

Nectar’s was pretty full as Lounge Act took the stage. They were a Burlington supergroup featuring James Bellizia (guitar), Jason Cooley (vox), Bobby Hackney (drums), and Eric Olsen (bass). They were there to play Nevermind in it’s entirety, and opened with a furious Smells Like Teen Spirit. The audience was pretty excited, but there was only one guy slam dancing. Cooley said now that Stairway was out of the way, the show could really begin. In Bloom followed, but after Swale, I realized, I like a lot of music much better than Nirvana. The band were smoking hot, so it was all good fun. Come as You Are was heavy and menacing like it needs to be, but as the song I like most from the album, and work looming Sunday morning, when it wrapped up, I took it as a cue to go. It was too bad about the Bees, but I put in the effort and got a lot of sweet music as a reward.

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.