Black Rabbit, Vedora, Rawsome, Spirit Animal And Torpedo Rodeo In Max’s Basement September 21, 2012

Words by Tim Lewis.

It was a Friday, so my Monday, and Nathan said Max was having a party with bands playing in his basement. I was not excited to go out, but he said Vedora were playing, so I just had to. Max is a really good guy and plays guitar in a couple of bands and often does sound at the Monkey House. Despite having to work early the next morning, I went over to Nathans and we headed for the party. We made a pact to stay for the the first song of the third band, Vedora were on second, grabbed some beer and off we went.

Max lives in town, not far from Winooski, so it took no time to get there. We arrived, chatted a bit, but someone said Black Rabbit were about to go on, so down to the basement we went. It was a pretty small room, with lots of concrete and natural rock formations. That worked well, as you could sit on the rocks, if you are the kind of person who can sit with live music playing.

Black Rabbit were ferocious. Their songs are loud, fast, heavy, catchy and fun. They played with a searing intensity. The room made for a nice full rock sound. Everything about their set was great. The last time I saw them, it took a few songs for me to get into them. Not this night. I was hooked from the first note and rocked their whole set away. I really like these guys and must see them more!

After the set we wandered upstairs for some air, and another beer. There were lost of fascinating people hanging out. Soon enough, Max came around and said Vedora were ready to play. Back we went, and Vedora kicked off their show. While they may have lost of bit of of subtlety in their sound, due to the small cement room, they made up for it by rocking hard. They sounded great and the set was wonderful as always. Dragnet stands out as one of the songs that unleashed the wow factor from the audience, but really, the whole set was lots of fun. They played like crazy, had the small but committed audience loving them at every moment. They always do a great job, and Friday was no exception. They wrapped the night with In the Pines/Chain and everyone had a great time.  You can check out the video someone shot of Terrarium.

After their set it was time for another beer and a bit of air. It was a warm night and really nice to just walk around after being in a crampt space. That did not last long since Rawsome came on to play. We headed back down as Max picked up the guitar, Jessie-Lou, grabbed a mic and they were joined by a drummer who’s name I did not catch. Rawsome were raw, loud and fun. The music was pretty punk. The lyrics were a little buried in the mix, but what I caught was fun and sassy. Their last song was a nice back and forth between Max and Jessie-Lou that was brilliant. I’m sure they will bring it to a wider stage soon. I’ve seen Rawsome twice and really enjoyed both shows.

Again, after the set it was time to head upstairs. Nathan and I hung out with some cool people on the patio and chatted about life, the universe and everything. At one point I could hear Spirit Animal start to play. I hung out for a bit, but then had to head down. I only caught a couple of songs, but they were catchy. They had nice hooks and were loud and fast. They rocked hard. I should have caught more of their set, but was glad I at least caught a couple.

Having stayed so late anyway, we just hung out for a bit until Torpedo Rodeo took the stage. They rocked hard, and were just tremendous. I sometimes forget just how good they are, and really need to catch them again sometime soon. They playing is tight and it’s very easy to get into their songs. I’m so glad I stayed.

When they wrapped up, Nathan and I said some goodbyes, and headed out. I was kind of tired the next day at work, but also filled with a warm glow. Thanks guys!

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