A Chaotic Serenade 2023
Sorry folks, it’s been a minute. I think it’s been since the end of February that I last updated the column. I’ve had a lot going on, and in the midst of some personal and family crises, I think I’ve kind of lost my mojo a bit. Particularly for writing, but also even a bit for photography, which has been an odd development to say the least. Also, there really hasn’t been a ton of shows rolling through Oklahoma City that piqued my interest enough to get back at it recently. That should pick back up some with the warmer months, and I’m optimistic my passions will follow. Fingers crossed.
This past Friday afternoon I did hit the road again, this time heading east over to North Little Rock, Arkansas for the Friday night festivities of the annual Mutants of the Monster festival, headlined by the Oregon trio, YOB as well as Boston’s Cave-In and supported by local heroes, Deadbird and Colour Design. The evening’s performance was held at the the lovely Argenta Community Theater, situated in a bustling Argenta Arts District, a vibrant and diverse community of homes, shops and restaurants.
Colour Design and Deadbird got things under way with engaging sets in front of the hometown crowd. I wasn’t familiar with either band other than a bit of word of mouth from friends, but I came away impressed with the music as well as each band’s approach to their performance. Great sets, and both were bands I’d look forward to catching once again. The lobby was filled with merch tables from both the evenings bands as well as local artists, and in between sets, served as a congregation point for new and old friends alike, before the music would eventually draw the sold out audience back into the main open floor room or the small seated balcony. Learn more about Colour Design here: https://colourdesign.bandcamp.com/music as well as Deadbird here: https://deadbirddoom.bandcamp.com
By the time Cave-In took the stage, the room had filled significantly, and without a designated photography pit area, I wasn’t really sure how well I was going to get some shots. As is usually the case, I was worried about nothing. A quick tap on a shoulder, or even just holding up my camera as I did my best to work my way though the crowd for angles usually sufficed. I’ve said it over and over, I’ll take heavy music audiences over just about any other show audience, any day of the week. There’s an overall camaraderie at these shows that just doesn’t exist at most other shows. Cave-In nailed it, with a high energy captivating set that I really enjoyed. Going in to this show, I really only knew of them from the 2022 Neurot Recordings in conjunction with My Proud Mountain release of The Songs of Townes Van Zandt Vol. III ( review here: https://americanahighways.org/2022/05/02/review-songs-of-townes-van-zandt-vol-iii/ ). While none of those songs covered there made their way into the set, I found a new appreciation for the band’s heavier original compositions. Great set. Dig in to Cave-in by visiting them here: https://cavein.bandcamp.com/music
Closing out the evening, and the primary reason I’d driven 350 miles to North Little Rock on a Friday after work, was an opportunity to see Oregon’s Doom metal heroes, YOB. These days there’s only a handful of bands that I have the obsessive need to see so badly that I’ll hit the road for. In the past that’s been mostly withheld for The Grateful Dead and related excursions, as well as criss-crossing Texas back in the early 90’s to catch Townes Van Zandt as often as possible. Somehow, someway, YOB founder Mike Scheidt’s band connects with me on a similar level that at least on the surface seems improbable. So with an announcement of a brief tour, arrangements were made for the closest tour stop, which just happened to be Mutants Fest, which I’d been wanting to catch for a couple of years. YOB is a hard band for me to explain to others. It’s heavy music at it’s absolute heaviest, yet there’s a persevering message of hope and understanding that draws you in. So much so, that early on fans bestowed the phrase “YOB is love” on the band, and well, it was so perfect, it stuck, even becoming the band’s website address. Over the course of the next 90 minutes, Scheidt and his band mates, long time bassist Aaron Rieseberg and new drummer, Dave French delivered an inspired six song set that included a bit of each era from the band’s 27 year career, including the blistering deep cut, “Pain of I” from their debut album, Elaborations of Carbon which is seeing a re-release this September via Relapse Records. The whole set was amazing, and after what has been a profoundly difficult year for me personally, it was just what I needed at the exact right moment. I finally caught a live “Ball of Molten Lead,” a song I’ve been chasing for years, and the closing duo of “Adrift in the Ocean” and :”Quantum Mystic” was just what my troubled soul needed. I left for home the next morning with my heart full and happy, eagerly looking forward to the next opportunity to catch the band, and for the possibilities for new music in the coming months.
Scheidt recently saw his collaborative album with classical composer and 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Music finalist James Romig. The Complexity of Distance originally released on New World Records in 2022, the album was re-released in May via Relapse Records. The album features Romig’s composition, a 58 minute, solo distorted guitar piece performed by Scheidt, for which, If there’s any justice, there’s an avaunt-garde or instrumental Grammy nomination looming later this year. YOB’s current tour will continue across the US through June. Find out everything relevant on the band’s official website here: https://www.yobislove.com