S.e. Ward, SadG’s, Tesla’s Revenge At Fletcher Free Library, The Mountain Says No, Wave Of The Future, Burning Monk At Nectar’s August 16, 2014
Words by Tim Lewis.
I just got home from a great night of music. If I’d known the timing, I could have made the Waylon Speed & ROUGH FRANCIS boat, but working until 6, when the boat leaves at 7, was a bit iffy.
I got home around 6:20, made some food, got ready and left around 7. I went to the Fletcher Free Library, and right there, in front of the windows, was S. e. Ward playing electric guitar. The sound was a bit sparse but evoked a full band. The songs seemed to rock harder and harder as her set played out. The 20 or so people were sitting on the floor. I joined them, hard as it was. Many of her songs got me bouncing, and I need to check out her music soon!
After her show, SADGs played a hip hop set. One guy filled the sound with scratches, and the other fired out nicely articulated super-fast rhymes. I was way out of my comfort zone, but they were pretty solid.
I thought Better Things would be up next, but they said they would end the show with an acoustic set, and that NY’s Tesla”s Tesla’s Revenge would be on next. With two guitars, bass and drums they kicked out a killer set of punkish indie rock. The guitars played mostly rhythms, with a couple of hot licks here and there. The drums were powerhouse, but fluid enough to slip through all the songs changes. The bass player was pretty spectacular, and often grabbed the songs and threw them a new way. I loved everything about them, and seeing them play in a library was beautifully surreal
They wrapped up at 9:10 and The Mountain Says No were set to go on at 9:15 at Nectar’s. Thinking I had the time perfect, I walked over and stopped in front of Nectar’s and did not hear the band yet. I enjoyed chatting with Jake Styles out front for a bit, then headed in.
I got in and waited, and it was almost 10 when Mountain went on. During the wait I got to chat with Marc Scarano and Darlene Scarano for a bit, but after a while, one of those random loud jams from the stage was the band going on. They played a killer set of heavy jams and fluid open rock songs, and had me rocking from first note to last. A few songs into the set, Eric and Nathan Curtis from Gardener’s showed up. The band just got better and better including some massive guitar interplay between Jedd Kettler and Ben Maddox. I loved everything, especially Statistic and the one two closing punch of The Mountain Says No and I’m With The Bomb,
Nathan and Eric were pizza hungry, so we wandered down to Mr Mike’s for a slice. On the way back we met Theo and Erin, from Gardener’s, and talked them into coming back to the show. We hung out for a bit, then Wave of the Future sounded like they were going on. I headed as close as I could get and rocked from first note to last, minus one song. They played a couple of classics, like Super Sexy Science Party. They did a killer cover of Rock Lobster->Mesopotamia. They played the whole new EP song for song. The whole show was high energy dance music with a heavy driving rock edge. At times Luke Richer had his hands on the laptop table, but his feet were jumping. At times, Samara Lark Brown was spinning her head round and round and her hair making a centrifugal circle. The bass was driving, the drums were fast and steady. The full audience was dancing and having a great time. They rocked us hard, until we were spent, and called it a night. I always let loose when I seen them and tonight they were in perfect form.
We were getting ready to head out, but the next band, Burning Monk, a Rage Against The Machine cover band, took the stage quickly. I don’t know Rage’s music all that well, but Monk were super tight and played it really hard. Drummer Jeremy Gartner was blistering and Matthew Bryan Hagen‘s guitar kept the songs surging. After the second song, I took the easy ride home, since Nathan lives so close. It’s going to be a short/long work day tomorrow, but I have so much joy that flowed through my ears and into my heart, that I’ll find my way through.
This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.