The Venue & Whatnot--------------------
It’s been a fairly mild January in Denver, so it seemed fitting that White Denim rolled into town to break up the monotony accompanied by a dusting of snow. As it got closer to the start of their set, it was getting progressively more white outside, it was creepy, but very cool. A slow trickle of fans entered the Larimer Lounge throughout the evening and not a soul left early, leaving the venue not packed but definitely crowded, a good sign on a Wednesday night. Clearly these people were psyched for White Denim.
Opening Acts--------------------
Dualistics is one of those Denver bands that I had heard a lot about, but never had the opportunity to see. I quickly saw why they are so popular among local music fans. They played with a ton of energy, even for the small crowd that had assembled for the opening bands. Their radio-friendly style of rock is catchy enough to hook you and varied enough to keep you interested. They’re one of those bands that sets the bar pretty high for acts that follow. They mentioned that they have free music on their website, so I thought I should pass that along to you.
Brazos, like White Denim, is a three-man band from Austin. While their music was very well put together, the stage presence left a little to be desired. This point was emphasized by being sandwiched between Dualistics, who have probably played Larimer a thousand times, and White Denim, who were freaking insane. Brazos had the feeling of a group who started as a rock ensemble in college; very proficient and sound great, but might want to spend less time worrying about playing perfect music and more time connecting with the audience.
Headliner--------------------
I’ll admit it, I was not ready for White Denim. But I blame the band itself for that. They took the stage and went from what I thought was a sound check into an all-out assault on my ears. I had done my homework, listening to their latest record Fits a whole bunch in the weeks leading up to the show, but that did not prepare me for their live performance. They had the technical proficiency of Brazos, but exhibited it in such a free flowing, frenetic manner that I was taken aback. Also, they did not stop. When I say that, I mean they DID NOT STOP. After a few minutes of working the tempo up on their first song, lead singer James Petralli stepped to the mic to launch into the lyrics. It was out. Did they finish the song and take a technical difficulties break? Hell no. He turned around and ripped the mic from drummer Joshua Block’s set, hunched over and screamed into it. This gave the sound guy a few moments to fix the busted gear and from there White Denim played for about 25 minutes straight before taking a break for some well deserved hydration. Then it was right into another 20-25 minutes of their 70’s style hard rock.
There was no “hi, we’re White Denim.” No “that was the first song on our new album.” No, it was more like, “we’re going to rock your faces off for as long as we can, try to keep up.” It was quite a challenge and the enthusiastic crowd at Larimer had a hard time keeping up after awhile. This style exhibits just one of several reasons why this band has so much buzz surrounding it. Playing hard and fast and going from one song to another for such a long period of time requires a certain kind of musicianship and band chemistry that is rarely seen. Petralli is an absolute wizard on the guitar and if it weren’t for the bands of sweat creeping over Block’s shoulders throughout the set you wouldn’t know it was a challenge for him. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of bassist Steve Terebecki’s fingers. I could tell by looking at him that he was “in the zone.” He worked the bass so furiously that it made my hands cramp from the audience. It was one of those shows that was so loud, so intense that I left the venue a little wobbly. White Denim’s live show has a physical affect on the viewer.
Tickets were on sale for just ten bucks which was an absolute steal. Trust me, get out there while the getting is still affordable. Just remember bring a set of earplugs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment