High on Stress with Slim Dunlap - Photo by Steve Cohen
With their new CD in hand, High on Stress rocked the Fine Line with the help of a few friends. If you’ve followed Nick Leet’s posts in the HowWasTheShow.com forum, you know that blogs across the world have given praise to Cop Light Parade, the second album from the band. I don’t need to link to any of them, I am pretty sure every blog has covered High on Stress by now.
The band managed to put together a stellar night of local music, beginning with local legend, Slim Dunlap. In a just world, Dunlap’s songs would be just as well known as his one-time bandmate, Paul Westerberg. No matter the popularity of Dunlap’s catalog, he can still sing songs from another world and be nonchalant about it. The uncanny ease at which he delivers his songs belies the genius within.
The Snaps played a fiery set of just plain old rock songs next. Lead Snap Robert Wilkinson has been playing the same brand of garage rock for a long time in the local scene here, and it still sounds great.
By the time High on Stress took the stage, there was a good sized crowd gathered, but of course the 10 feet directly in front of the stage was no-man’s land. Starting with “Abbey Rose” off of the new album, the band sounded like they always do, a band that is having a ball playing music. Leet and company may write songs about heartbreak and longing, but they are anything but melancholy.
Robert Wilkinson grabbed a guitar and joined the band for “Gold Star.” He added some extra oomph to the formerly-countrified song, almost giving it a Son Volt-like vibe.
When Slim Dunlap joined the band on the song “Eyeliner Blues,” you could see the joy in the faces of Leet and drummer Mark Devaraj especially. Devaraj’s grin went from ear to ear as he watched Dunlap play. It was amazing to hear the huge sound that Dunlap created, an eerie ringing and intricate picking pattern, all the while barely moving a muscle. It was the sign of a guitar player that has found what he’s looking for. He didn’t need anything flashy.
The band ended with the song, “Cop Light Parade,” a live staple for a couple years, and my favorite High on Stress song since the first time I heard it. Their new CD, however, has some serious contenders to that crown. High on Stress was the first band I ever reviewed for HWTS. In the almost three years that have passed, I have seen the band grow from a fun little bar band, to a bonafide local stalwart that knows how to write catchy songs and knows how to play them live.
Ending the night was Romantica, who, unfortunately, played for an ever-thinning crowd. The band just seems to get better though. And their version of “Hallelujah” makes me think that song was meant to be a country song. (No offense, Mr. Cohen.) It just took an Irishman to figure that out.
