I got to Brooklyn Steel early in hopes that I might be able to catch some of soundcheck, and yes, that panned out. The cavernous space where I’d previously seen the likes of Sleep and Neurosis was empty save for All Them Witches on stage when I walked in, and though it was hours before showtime, the bit of jamming they were doing had a familiar, distinctive resonance.

King Buffalo and All Them Witches stand as two of the foremost underground rock/heavy psych bands of their generation. To the point where I feel silly even saying it; you already know. This was also by no means their first time touring together. I saw them in a small lounge in Eastern Pennsylvania in 2014 (review here), for example, and I know they’ve done a bunch together since, up to this tour. I saw King Buffalo back in January, but the last time I caught All Them Witches was when I still lived in Massachusetts, an entire plague, half a lineup and several years besides ago.

Generally before a show I’m all anxious and my brain feels like it’s going to melt and I stand in front of the stage repeating the mantra that once the music starts everything is going to be okay. I was comfortable enough getting to Brooklyn Steel that I forgot the camera in the car when I got out to see soundcheck. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to leave it there, but I did retrieve it. If I can take pictures of these two bands in a Stroudsburg living room, a photo pit in the part of Long Island they call Brooklyn (which is what The Pecan calls Brooklyn) should be doable. Plus now I can say I saw Ben McLeod riff on “Aqualung.” House of Mirrors Tour delivered.

Snow was in the forecast. All the programmable highway signs on the way into the city were like, “head for shelter!” and “buy all the milk!” and such and sundry as I made my way over the GWB, trading one traffic jam for the next. It could’ve taken me much longer. I’m pretty convinced that TV Eye, where I saw KB in January, is far enough east in New York that it counts as England.

But whatever the conditions on the way home were to be, it was worth my trip well before All Them Witches were done kicking around “Talisman” in soundcheck. They followed with a louder new one and noodled around a while. I like that. That’s not the show, you know? It shows you how a band works together in a different way, where it’s not necessarily about the performance. When they were done, King Buffalo set up in a row in front of ATW’s drum/keyboard riser, drummer Scott Donaldson in the middle, checking first, and took their turn, setting up and warming up, linechecking before their actual soundcheck. Doors were still two hours off. There was no rush.

It was “Hebitation,” then Ben ATW came out on acoustic to run through “Morning Song,” the blend of Sean McVay’s electric, Dan Reynolds’ bass and McLeod’s acoustic was lush and classic in a way that surprised me. Like, get Allan Van Cleave back out here to put keys on it and then maybe jam for 20 minutes and see where it goes. “Gotta make it till the morning comes.” McLeod smoothly traded out for an electric and he and McVay dug in, and it very quickly became apparent as they built toward the crescendo why they’ve been closing sets with “Morning Song” on this tour. It would be something to look forward to later.

Grabbed some food when they were done — there’s a whole story about salad there, but it’s the holidays so I’m granting reprieve — and made it back as doors were about to open. The early crew piled toward the front of the stage, and fair enough. King Buffalo were on at 8PM, and by the time that rolled around, the room was pretty well packed out. Easy to imagine a lot of overlap in terms of fanbases. I’d been looking forward to both bands, certainly. I’m saying it wasn’t necessarily a surprise that the place was full when King Buffalo went on. It was that kind of night.

Oh, and the set was pretty good too. I’d cheated earlier in the day and checked on recent setlists; they’ve been changing it up, as they do. “Hours” opened, rather than “Hebitation,” and “Loam” and “Balrog,” the latter being their latest single, released this time last year, followed in succession. They dipped back to 2016’s Orion for “Drinking From the River Rising,” then hit “Centurion” hard ahead of bringing Ben McLeod out as they’d done in soundcheck for “Morning Song.” He even did the swap-out-acoustic-for-electric, and rather than feeling like I’d spoiled that for myself, it was a little moment I felt all the more able to appreciate knowing it was coming.

All told, it was 45 minutes, which felt short. But it’s a support slot, so not unreasonable. They could’ve done an hour easily and I doubt anyone would’ve blinked, except that McVay had said “Morning Song” was it. I moved up to the balcony after finishing pictures. It was great to look out and see the sea of nodding heads, and I remembered that part of the reason I wanted to come to this show — not that I needed an excuse — is the venue. I’ve seen King Buffalo play to a big crowd before, and it’s awesome. Some dude in the front was having his bachelor party. Many in the crowd cheered for him, including me because I like being married. I knew a bunch of people in the front row as well. It was — wait for it — that kind of night. I felt lucky to have been in the photo pit for “Loam” near the start. Lucky to be in the room at all. Lucky to be anywhere.

All Them Witches hit at 9:15 and opened with “Talisman” and “Blood and Sand (Milk and Endless Waters.” The highlights from there were many and peopled with the characters that have helped make All Them Witches songs so singular, whether that’s “Charles William” or the Coyote Woman, who was both killed and married off by the time they were through. They let out and jammed some, but were of course pro-shop despite making it all look easy. This was my first time seeing them since Allan Van Cleave rejoined on keys/violin, and my first time seeing them with Christian Powers on drums. They had a couple new songs that I didn’t know, but none of it seemed no new as to throw them off their game, whether that was bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr. holding down low-key grunge vibes on stage right or Ben McLeod’s solos doing their own singing on the opposite side.

It definitely didn’t get less beautiful when they went into “Saturn Song,” following that quieter-till-it-isn’t number with the new “Angel on the Wayside,” which had more strut before really digging into its build, and then again after. Phones came out in the crowd to film “Diamomd,” even before Van Cleave took out the violin in the jam. It turned out to be a highlight, so kudos to everyone who had their camera ready — I know, I’m stirrups supposed to bitch about people on their phones at the show; I’m a different kind of old man. The heavy quotient hit a peak with the single “1×1” — chills — but there wss plenty to stand up to it, and as the subdued psych-blues can-I-call-it-a-classic-yet-no-okay-I’ll-wait “Marriage of Coyote Woman” gave over to “When God Comes Back” and “Alabaster,” it was clear we were getting to the end. McLeod had some technical trouble somewhere along the way and Parks talked to the crowd to fill time. He asked how many people had seen the band before.

A good amount had, but not as many who cheered when he asked if it was anyone’s first time. Could it be that All Them Witches are still building their audience? Still growing a fanbase, more than a decade later? That’s a special frickin’ band, and this was that kind of night. “Alabaster” was glorious and finished the regular set, but they came back out for “Red Rocking Chair” and “Bulls.” The former is a traditional given a densely chugging interpretation set to a slow nod, and no complaints, and honestly, “Bulls” is as welcome to close out as any number of other ATW songs would be, including a few they’d already played by then. But I’ll take “Bulls” and thank you kindly.

That was it. Lights came up when they were done and the great shuffle began. Would there be any other way to close out my year as regards live music? Just a crawling human fartcloud. Alas. Fresh air brought snowfall. Wet drive home. Not the worst, not the fastest down Rt. 80 West I’ve ever gone. It doesn’t matter even a little. I was so glad to have left the house, to have made it to this show. Thanks to The Patient Mrs. as always for everything. Thanks to Scott Donaldson and the King Buffalo guys, and Parks and All Them Witches. It was a special kind of night, and in the morning, the first snow of winter high enough to cover the grass had fallen while I slept. Maybe this was me welcoming the season.

Thanks for reading. Some more pics are after the jump if you want to have a gander.

King Buffalo

All Them Witches

Tags: All Them Witches, Brooklyn, King Buffalo, New York City

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2025 at 6:52 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.