Thompson Gunner At Nectar’s June 21, 2013

Words by Tim Lewis.

I went out to Nectar’s to see Thompson Gunner last night.  The six-piece band played countryish rock.  The singer had a deep gruff voice, and played rhythm guitar.  The pedal steel player kept the songs crying or soaring.  Conner did some serious shredding on guitar.  Dave Anderson played some sweet guitar solos, and added extra depth to the rhythms.  The bass player kept things driving, at any speed the band needed.  The drummer looked like he was a third of the age of the other guys in the band, but was rock solid for every note.

They mixed it up a bit, with a slow country song, a fast country song, but most if the show just rocked.  They had nice long jams where Dave and Connor threw lines in and around each other.  They tossed in a couple of covers, including a cowpunk version of Tom Petty’s You Got Lucky, and a rocking version of 16 Tons.  They played about 90 minutes, and ended with a blistering California’s Burning and an over the top Empress of Ireland.  You’ve gotta love epic songs about shipwreks. Even though it was just 11, I worked early that morning, was up late the night before, and was pretty drained.  I’d like to have stuck around for Waylon Speed, but the body said no.  I took a quick walk up a packed Church st, and headed for home.

You can listen to a previous show at nectar’s here:

http://thompsongunner.bandcamp.com/

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