Vedora And Rawsome At Manhattan Pizza August 3, 2012

Words by Tim Lewis.

Having not seen Vedora for a couple of days, I knew it must be time to see them again. It was great of them to play on a Wednesday, my Saturday, but now reality returned. On Friday night Vedora played Manhattan Pizza on the corner of Church and Main, the heart of downtown Burlington. They were set to start at 9:30 and play a set. Rawsome would come on and play a set, then Vedora would come back and finish out the night. As it was my Monday, I knew there was no way I would make it for their second set. I knew I could make it to the first and was curious about the other band, since I have a lot of respect for Max. His work playing with Torpedo Rodeo is pretty solid, and he does a nice job on the soundboard at the Monkey House. Vedoras second set was a toss up, since I had to work fairly early in the morning.

I checked in with Nathan, and he seemed on the fence. After getting out of work Friday, I hung out for a bit, but soon headed downtown. I walked in, grabbed a slice and a beer and ate and waited. Soon enough Vedora set up in the corner and started to rock. They opened with the slow brooding one that builds and builds. The sound was surprisingly wonderful and their set just sizzled. The audience was mostly there for the pizza but seemed open and intrigued by Vedora’s well-crafted rock songs. The band played hard and elegant. Basalt Anchor sounded great. Promises kicked hard, then slowed into the chorus, the slid back into the rock. In the Park (?) rolled into the closing section of the Chain and was as fun as always. The first surprise of the night was late in the set. They pulled out Once Upon. I love that song and it’s been ages since I’ve heard it. I love the way it slowly unfurls. They played one more and wrapped up the set.

In the set break I ran into Nathan. He caught about half the set. We chatted a bit, then chatted with drummer Jeff LaBossiere about beer and music, but soon he had to return to the stage. He was pulling triple duty that night as drummer for Vedora and sitting in as drummer for Rawsome. It was his first (and only?) night with the band. Max played some loud rocking guitar and sang. Jeff pounded out perfect rhythms and it was fun to watch Max glance over at Jeff every once in a while with a hell yea look on his face. J-Loo added some vocals, that were a bit low in the mix. It was a short loud brassy fun set. While it didn’t light my world on fire, it was pretty fun.

After they wrappped up, I followed Nathan out for a smoke. We chatted a bit but soon Vedora came back to the stage. The familiar strains of Dragnet dragged me in, and it sounded wonderful. I love that song! Next up some friends were filming the band, so they pulled out a couple of repeats from the first set. It was cool, but the energy is never the same. They followed with the True Blue cover. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, but the hour was late. I hated to leave, but was happy to have stayed late enough for Dragnet. Ever since that show, I have had most of Vedora’s songs running through my head.

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