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Live Review: Small Stone Boston Showcase with Mellow Bravo, Wo Fat, Lo-Pan, Gozu, Roadsaw and Neon Warship, 03.28.14

Posted in Reviews on March 31st, 2014 by JJ Koczan

I’ve had some pretty landmark good times at Small Stone showcases over the last 10 or so years. Some of them — admittedly, the more recent ones — I’ve even remembered. The last one in Massachusetts was 2012 at Radio in Somerville (review here) was a monster, and as my first time in the upstairs room at the Middle East in Cambridge, I can’t imagine a more fitting occasion. A six-band bill with a shared love of riffs and a record label in common, it was a front-to-back night of volume, distortion, and groove, and from Neon Warship through Roadsaw, Gozu, Lo-Pan, Wo Fat and Mellow Bravo, there was no letup. No moment when you’d want to go outside and smoke or get some air. No moment when the place to be wasn’t in front of the stage.

That’s rare enough when three acts are playing, let alone twice as many. The same lineup minus Mellow Bravo and plus Geezer would play the next night at St. Vitus bar in Brooklyn, but as I had family coming north Saturday and zero dollars for gas, this was my fix. Parking in Cambridge on a Friday night is a singular joy between what’s campus housing for this or that elite-perpetuation factory and other sundry restrictions, but I found a spot and made it into the Middle East well enough in advance of Neon Warship starting off the night. Here’s how it went down from there:

Neon Warship


Of all the acts who’d take stage Friday night, Neon Warship were the most recent addition to the label’s roster. Picked up late in 2013, the Dayton, Ohio, three-piece gave a taste of Small Stone to come with their steady rolling riffs and the post-The Sword vocal stylings of guitarist Kevin Schindel, who when he hit into his higher register made up for some of Freedom Hawk‘s absence from the bill. It was my first exposure to them live, though their 2013 self-titled debut had made an impression, and though they’ve been a band for three years, they came across initially as still getting their feet under them on stage. They were well received by what was rightly a friendly crowd, however, and flourished as their set progressed, getting more comfortable as they went on. It was short sets for everybody, however, so just as Neon Warship were hitting their stride, they were also wrapping up. I doubt it’ll be my last encounter with them, and I’d be interested to see them go longer and have more of a chance to engage the audience. They seemed to be headed in that direction.

Roadsaw

I knew when I left the house that it was going to be an evening of top-notch guitar work. What I didn’t realize was that Ian Ross of Roadsaw was going to meet the quota on his own. Don’t get me wrong — situated as early headliners no doubt to bring in the local crowd early and get them drinking; a nefarious plot that worked wonders — all of Roadsaw was on fire, including new drummer Kyle Rasmussen (Phantom Glue) who recently came aboard to replace Jeremy Hemond for reasons yet undisclosed, but Ross seemed particularly to rise to the occasion that the night presented, and whether he was tearing ass through “The Finger” from 2001’s Rawk ‘n’ Roll or leading the way through the undulating stonerism of “Black Flower,” if it wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen him play, it was certainly close. They finished out with two from their 2011 self-titled (review here) — which at this point is begging for a follow-up — “Long in the Tooth” and “Weight in Gold,” and were nothing if not in headliner form, frontman Craig Riggs sharing a mic with bassist Tim Catz after swinging his enough to dislodge its cable and all four bringing their still-too-short set to a monstrously noisy finish. Sometimes earplugs just don’t matter.

Gozu

Never say never in rock and roll, but at least for the time being this night marked the end of Gozu‘s three-guitar experiment. Lead player Jeff Fultz, who’d pull double-duty with Mellow Bravo, is reportedly on the move out of the area, so there goes that. And while his farewell with Mellow Bravo would be drunker/more emotional later on — he’d been in Mellow Bravo five years, a few months playing with Gozu — it was nonetheless a stellar sendoff. For me, they seemed to affirm the potential for Gozu as a five-piece they showed when I saw this lineup make its debut at the Great Scott back in January (review here), songs like “Irish Dart Fight” and “Meth Cowboy” benefiting both from the extra heft and and still nascent dynamic between Fultz and Doug Sherman‘s soloing. Guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffney brought his own edge via a Gretsch hollow-body guitar — I don’t play, but if I had the money to spend I’d buy one just to look at it — and Joe Grotto, his foot up on the monitor, was duly animated holding down the low end, while still-relatively-new drummer Mike Hubbard made himself comfortable in the slower, more swinging terrain of “Alone,” the closer from 2010’s Locust Season (review hereand a rare enough inclusion in the set that I don’t think I’d ever seen them play it before. Certainly not since 2013’s The Fury of a Patient Man (review here) was released, anyway. They didn’t get to “Meat Charger,” but “Ghost Wipe” had been a raucous enough opener that all was well. They’re ready to hit Europe next month.

Lo-Pan

Oh, it had been too long. Too long. Not quite a year since they headlined the third Eye of the Stoned Goat fest in Brooklyn (review here), but still, that’s too long to go without seeing Lo-Pan. They played a set comprised almost entirely of new material, songs from the fourth album, Colossus, they’re recording with Andrew Schneider in Brooklyn this week, some I’d heard — “Colossus,” “The Duke” — others that were completely new. Hearing a runthrough of something once live is no way to judge how it will sound on record, but as guitarist Brian Fristoe nestled into the open, winding grooves of his own riffs backed by bassist Scott Thompson and drummer Jesse Bartz while vocalist Jeff Martin soul-man crooned behind, Lo-Pan sounded like Lo-Pan, and yes, I mean that as a compliment. It means the Ohio four-piece have established their sound and know what sides of what they do they want to develop and they’ve set to the work of that. I pulled my earplugs about halfway out for “El Dorado” from 2011’s Salvador (review here), but even the stuff I hadn’t heard before was easy to appreciate. As the hardest-touring band on Small Stone, Lo-Pan lack nothing for presence on stage, and though I almost got cracked in the head by Thompson‘s bass once or twice and when the night was over, I’m pretty sure it was Bartz‘s crash cymbal ringing in my ears, they silver-plattered a reminder of how vital an act they are. It would be premature to say their best days are ahead of them since Colossus is just now in progress, but they showed the room at the Middle East that anything’s possible, even topping Salvador.

Wo Fat


Getting to see Texas trio Wo Fat play a packed room was one of the highlights of my Roadburn 2013 (review here), and with their second Small Stone outing (fifth overall), The Conjuring, on the way, brief as it was, their set was no less enjoyable here. At the same time they’re probably the best advertisement for Texan tourism I can think of, it’s probably also a good thing they’re from so far away, otherwise I’d probably wind up saying something like, “Oh, it’s only 10 hours. That’s not too far to drive to see Wo Fat again.” The TSA had rifled through guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump‘s gear, so they had to set everything up from scratch before they got going, but once they did, it was a weekend’s worth of fuzz condensed and served in a three-song can. Bassist Tim Wilson was dug in deep for “The Conjuring,” which took hold following a noisy transition from “Nameless Cults” from their 2013 Cyclopean Riffs split LP with Egypt (review here) and in turn shifted via jam into “Sleep of the Black Lotus” from 2012’s The Black Code (review here), the whole set coming across as one consistent riff and fuzz fest, grounded by the plod of drummer Michael Walter. Wo Fat are masters of getting the most out of a slow stoner groove and pushing it into or out of a faster rush (“The Conjuring” does this really well), and the swamp-voodoo lyrical themes they’ve paired with their Fu Manchu-worthy tonality fits perfectly. They don’t have Lo-Pan‘s road experience, but like their Ohio compatriots, Wo Fat clearly know what works in their approach. They wrapped up with a big rock finish — no other way to do it, really — and suddenly the night seemed too short…

Mellow Bravo

…But the fact of the matter is when you want to round out a party in Boston, Mellow Bravo are the way to go. As noted, it was guitarist Jeff Fultz‘s last show with the band, and they were in top form to say goodbye. Irrepressibly outspoken frontman Keith Pierce warned the audience that they were going long in his honor, and while the local six-piece left the room thoroughly entertained — aside from borrowing my camera to take a house-lights-up shot of the crowd, I also saw Pierce at the bar at one point, and he finished the set in the audience — it was readily apparent that for them this was more than just another show or even a label showcase. For Pierce, keyboardist/vocalist Jess Collins, guitarist Andrew Doherty, bassist/vocalist Seager Tennis and drummer Dave Jarvis, they were losing a bandmate and a friend and paying him bittersweet tribute. That’s how it felt watching, anyhow. I’ve seen Mellow Bravo a few times at this point, as well as Collins and Pierce in their acoustic side-project, Tastefulnudes (live review here), and while this was hardly the tightest, crispest set I’ve watched from them, they gave the night a suitable finale, more or less starting an afterparty while they were still playing. To say the very least of it, it was worth sticking around for.

Other bands had started to pack up, but there was still a good deal of milling about, drinking, band-bonding, etc. going on. It was just hitting two in the morning, which had the bar in get-the-fuck-out mode, so I hiked the several blocks back to my car made my way home, more than a little bummed to know what I’d be missing the next night in Brooklyn but feeling fortunate to have been able to see the show I did.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

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The Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 Lineup and Runtimes Finalized

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 3rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Though one hesitates to ever use the word “final” when it comes to a festival lineup, particularly when we’re still a few months out from the event taking place, The Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 looks pretty damn complete. Some recent upheaval in the lineup has brought in Lord Fowl as a replacement for Phantom Glue and Kings Destroy for Kingsnake, but things seem solid and ready to proceed otherwise. Should be a packed weekend May 3 and 4 at Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester, Mass., and it’s definitely one I’m looking forward to with a killer blend of bands local to New England and not.

Complete lineup as it stands today follows, along with the runtimes for each set. Feel free to dive in:

Snake Charmer Booking proudly presents: THE EYE OF THE STONED GOAT 4 Festival

Saturday, May 3rd – Sunday May 4th 2014

2 Days! 20 Bands! 20 Bucks!

Ralphs Rock Diner
148 Grove St.
Worcester, MA 01605

Saturday, May 3rd 2014
Doors: 4:30pm
Admission: $20 (ALL WEEKEND)
Line-Up and Set Times:

SIXTY WATT SHAMAN (The Reunion!!!)
12:20am-1:15am

CORTEZ (Boston, MA)
11:20pm-12:00am

KINGS DESTROY
10:25pm-11:05pm

SUMMONER (Boston, MA)
9:30pm-10:10pm

LORD FOWL (New Haven, CT)
8:45pm-9:15pm

BEELZEFUZZ (Church Within Records – Maryland)
8:00pm-8:30pm

SECOND GRAVE (Massachusetts)
7:15pm-7:45pm

JOHN WILKES BOOTH (Long Island, NY)
6:30pm-7:00pm

SET (Worcester, MA)
5:45pm-6:15pm

BIRCH HILL DAM (Fitchsburg, MA)
5:00pm-5:30pm

Sunday, May 4th 2014
Doors: 3:30pm
Admission: $20 (ALL WEEKEND)
Line-Up and Set Times:

ORDER OF THE OWL (Atlanta, GA)
11:20pm-12:00am

THE SCIMITAR (Boston, MA)
10:20pm-11:00pm

CURSE THE SON (Connecticut)
9:25pm-10:05pm

VOLUME IV (Ripple Music – Atlanta, GA)
8:30pm-9:10pm

ICHABOD (Boston, MA)
7:45pm-8:15pm

ROZAMOV (Boston, MA)
7:00pm-7:30pm

NEON WARSHIP (Small Stone Records- Ohio)
6:15pm-6:45pm

FOGHOUND (Baltimore, MD)
5:30pm-6:00pm

GEEZER (Kingston, NY)
4:45pm-5:15pm

SKROGG (New Hampshire)
4:00pm-4:30pm

Tickets On-Sale NOW!!!!
http://www.showclix.com/event/3788105/listing

$20.00 for the ENTIRE WEEKEND!!!

Sponsored By:

Ripple Music
Electric Beard Of Doom
Grip of Delusion Radio
Three Thirteen Inc Artist Management
Heavy Planet

https://www.facebook.com/events/586404324760804/
https://www.facebook.com/TheEyeOfTheStonedGoat
http://www.theeyeofthestonedgoat.com/

Cortez, “Johnny”

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Visual Evidence: Posters for Small Stone’s March Showcases Revealed

Posted in Visual Evidence on January 14th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

They’ve been out for a minute at this point, but I had to get these up. Small Stone Records will host showcases in Boston and Brooklyn March 28 and 29, respectively. Roadsaw, Lo-Pan, Gozu, and Neon Warship will play both in Boston at the Middle East and in Brooklyn at the St. Vitus bar, and both shows also mark the Northern debut of Texas fuzz-giants Wo Fat! The Dallas trio will be touring to herald the coming of their fifth album, due in June. If you couldn’t tell by the exclamation point, I’m excited to be seeing them again.

Mellow Bravo (whose lead guitarist, Jeff Fultz, will now be pulling double duty as a member of Gozu) also feature in Boston, while Geezer will add some New York heavy blues to the Brooklyn lineup. Both posters come courtesy of Chris Smith, whose DeviantArt page is here. As you can see below, the two posters are set up to complement each other, and the Boston one is angrier. That more or less sums up the relationship between Boston and NYC as I currently understand it. Extra kudos to Smith for the subtle social commentary.

Click either poster to enlarge, and check out the lineups and other sundry information about both shows below, along with the Bandcamp stream of Wo Fat‘s The Black Code (review here), just for the hell of it:

Small Stone Showcase Boston- March 28th

THE MIDDLE EAST RESTAURANT & NIGHTCLUB
www.mideastclub.com/
472-480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Mellow Bravo
Wo Fat
Lo-Pan
GOZU
Roadsaw
Neon Warship

$10

https://www.facebook.com/events/466657083440347/

 

Small Stone Records / Electric Beard Of Doom / Wendigo Productions, LLC. presents the Small Stone NYC Showcase 2014!

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Featuring for the first time in NYC… all the way from Tejas… the MIGHTY Wo Fat!

also featuring:
GOZU
ROADSAW
Lo-Pan
Neon Warship
Geezer

More info to follow as things develop… dig!

https://www.facebook.com/events/264203310398369/

Wo Fat, The Black Code (2012)

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Getting to Know Small Stone’s Latest Signings: Neon Warship and La Chinga

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 22nd, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Venerable Detroit-based imprint Small Stone Records — which I’d argue is probably the most prevalent American purveyor of heavy rock and roll these days, what with a roster that includes Roadsaw, Wo Fat, Dixie Witch, Sasquatch, Gozu, Lo-Pan, on and on — has announced the addition of two new power trios to its ever-growing stable: Dayton, Ohio’s Neon Warship and Vancouver’s La Chinga.

What the two bands have in common with each other they have in common with a lot of Small Stone‘s other groups, and that’s groove and a love of classic rock. La Chinga get down with no shortage of swaggering boogie, while Neon Warship hit into thicker tones and bigger crash, but both set themselves apart with quality riffing and oldschool vibes.

In case you haven’t had an encounter with one or both yet, here’s a little bit and some tunes to familiarize:

La Chinga (Vancouver, BC)

Yes, as in “The Fuck.” If you’ve got your hard-boozing and steal-your-girlfriend imagery ready to go, then you’re ready to meet Canadian trio La Chinga. Comprised of bassist/vocalist Carl Spackler, guitarist/vocalist Ben Yardley (also theremin!) and drummer/vocalist Jay Solyom, they bask in the glory days of early ’70s heavy rock, and update the form with a crisp, large production sound on their self-titled 2013 self-titled debut. Songs like “The Wheel” and “When I Get Free” offer 8-track-ready stomp and dynamic grooves, while the opening boogie of “Early Grave” and the motor-chugging “La Chinga” show off a vibrancy that puts La Chinga among Small Stone‘s most good-time swaggering acts. And you know that’s saying something when it comes to the bands on this label.

La Chinga released La Chinga in April and are set to return to the studio before 2013 is out, with their label debut release coming in 2014. Until then, dig into the self-titled and try not to think of summer:

La Chinga, La Chinga (2013)

Neon Warship (Dayton, OH)

With the lineup of Kevin Schindel, Matt Tackett and Jay Bird, Ohio’s Neon Warship crashed into our plane of existence early in 2013 with their own self-titled work, a vinyl-ready 36 minutes of alternately soulful and thundering tonal weight, barely tamed at all on tracks like the 10-minute centerpiece “Paralyzed,” which proved to be anything but with its smoking leads, crashing riffs and memorable ’90s-style vocal melodies, only to lead to more metallic gallop on the your-skatepark-isn’t-big-enough “In Waves” like nothing ever happened. Earlier cuts “Carry You Away” and “Weather Breeder” showed a penchant for hooks and grooves, but Neon Warship were just as lethal in the stretches of nine-minute closer “Burn the Breeze.”

They’ll support Orange Goblin on Oct. 25 at the Rockstar Pro Arena and are reportedly working on writing songs for their first Small Stone outing to be recorded next year. Shuffle on this in the meantime:

Neon Warship, Neon Warship (2013)

Kudos and good luck to both bands on making their Small Stone debuts. More on all parties at the links below.

La Chinga on Thee Facebooks

Neon Warship on Thee Facebooks

Small Stone Records

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