By: Bob Longmore
 |
|
Fog - Photo by David de Young (click for larger)
|
The Deaf pulled no punches as they started the night with their herky-jerky punk rock sound. Bassist Stephanie Budge and guitarist David Safar took turns screaming their guts into the microphones. The Deaf have a big sound for a three piece and they have one speed: fast. Some of the lyrics I think I heard include, “kill the people/ kill the people,” and “let’s start a fight.” I think it is safe to say the band’s songs are angry.
It had been a few years since I saw Fog (or The Fog as I think they were called back then). I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if this was the same band. There was no shaggy mop on Andrew Broder’s head, there were no turntable scratches and there was no Martin Dosh behind the drum kit. It was like seeing a brand new band for the first time. Andrew Broder led the band through a tight and powerful set.
Fog peppered their space rock vibe with moments of poppyness. At the heart are Broder’s sad and moping lyrics, which fit beautifully over the pulsing ambient guitar noises. The drummer played precise and intricate rhythms so perfectly that I thought it was a drum machine at times. During the climax of one of their spacey songs all the members swayed as they bent over their pedals, coaxing random and accidental sounds forth. Broder mentioned that the band scheduled to follow had to cancel. “Malachi Constant cancelled but give ‘em a round of applause.” (Apparently, MC drummer Nick Shuminsky broke his jaw while the band was on a mini-tour to North Dakota.)
 |
|
Andrew Clayton of The Dad in Common - Photo by David de Young
|
As The Dad in Common set up their gear, something out of the ordinary appeared. Set on a chair at the front of the stage were a white candle, some incense in a prayer votive, a bible and a statue of the Virgin Mary. The stage got dark and band members ascended the steps. Against a backdrop of frenzied violin and primal drum beats, singer Andrew Clayton opened the bible and grabbed a megaphone and began the revival. This wasn’t the lift you up and make you complete kind of revival; this was the kind of sermon to scare you straight. It seemed as though thunder and lighting could fill the room at any second.
I struggled to come up with an accurate description of the Dad in Common’s sound. They have a jazz and folk infused psychedelic foot stomping sound, or maybe it is punk rock gospel. With the sound of a violin and a distorted harmonica rubbing against each other, there is a ghostly sonic lushness to counteract the thundering rhythms. Although there are only five members of the band, they are so busy with each of their separate instruments and switching instruments in between songs that it seems as if twenty people are on stage at once. The bass guitar made its way from right to left and passed back again. The cello made an occasional appearance, as did the banjo and various drums and percussion instruments. This helped give each song a unique flavor.
There were two types of people in the crowd this night at the Turf Club, those that stood in silent, reverent awe, and those that swayed and danced as the frantic, crazy music flowed through them. Although the crowd was thin, the people that attended crowded up front by the stage, unafraid or maybe too intrigued to stay away.
Clayton climbed out from behind his drums mid-set to sing a slow simmering serenade to the Mary statue he held in his hands, “Do we keep going?/ Knowing what we know/ Are we holy?”
Toward the end of their set one of their psychotic jams devolved into a sing along punctuated only by hand claps, all the members of the band chanted, “There is no end in sight/ there is no end in sight.”
By the time the end was in sight, the band members looked fulfilled, as if they had achieved what they came to do. The Dad in Common wowed the crowd and, I would guess, converted some new fans for their young band.
Location Info:
The Turf Club
Artist Info: Fog, The Dad in Common, The Deaf
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus