Phil Yates And The Affiliates, Black Rabbit And When Particles Collide At The Monkey House January 11, 2014

Words by Tim Lewis.

I had a great time at The Monkey House last night. It was a long day on the phones at work and I’ve just not been able to shake this cold. Late in the day, I felt totally drained, and when I got home, the last thing I wanted to do was go out and see music. The desire to see When Particles Collide and hear their new EP was a bit stronger, so I called Nathan Curtis and set a time to meet. Chris Larrow stopped by and decided to check out the bands, so off we went. We hung out a bit, said a couple of quick hello’s, then Phil Yates and the Affiliates hit the stage. They played a bunch of their quirky indie pop songs that make you work to keep up with them. The first couple of songs were good, but the sound was still coming together. By the third, they were in top gear and their set was lots of fun. The sparse crowd was enthusiastic, and everyone was having a good time. Towards the end they played the three songs from Oh So Sour, that are almost in rotation on my radio show. I though they would close with Ninja’s VS Zombies, but they pulled out Honeycomb and rocked it hard. Their playing is excellent and they always put on a fun show. The set break went quick and Black Rabbit hit the stage with Mark My Words. Chris was a trooper and stuck it out for a couple of songs, but they are a bit outside of his comfort zone. I admire him for sticking around and giving it a try. The band were right on and playing fast and hard. Their set was lots of fun, except for when they played a “pop” song and Marc Scarano‘s guitar tried to hurt him. They cranked the speed and volume for the next few and there seemed to be no more issues. They played a lot of songs and a few of us rocked out hard. It was a great time. Another short set break followed and When Particles Collide hit the stage. I keep thinking of them as a tough rock band, which they are, but the instant Sasha Alcottbegan to sing, I remembered just how warm her vocals are. As a duo she has to cover the bass and guitar parts on her low slung Les Paul, and she did a great job. Chris harmonically hammered the drums and those who were left in the audience were rocked hard. Their set was pure joy. I recognized a few songs from their album, and they played a killer version of Moles. They played a lot of songs I don’t know, but since I bought the Ego EP, I will know them for next time. Their set was not too long but rocked hard every moment. A short drum solo led into three fast rockers and that was that. We said some quick goodbyes, then I caught a ride home with Nathan. I walked in the door about 12:15 and was asleep by 12:30. I had wanted to try and cross the Winooski circle to find Aya Inoue‘s birthday party and say hi, but was worried about the timing of the bands. I hope she’s kind enough to forgive me. Judging by the soreness of my throat this morning, going out was a dumb thing to do. Judging by the contentedness of my soul, I’m so happy I put in the effort.

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