Don Giovanni Records 10th Anniversary Tour
I've been talking up the Screaming Females live show to CoolMom for a while now. She loves the records but still hasn't had a chance to see them play. Turns out last night wasn't going to be her night either. As the day wore on, babysitting options slowly fell away; and it looked like I was going to cover this one on my own again.
CoolDaughter #2 had a couple of birthday parties to attend. The early party started at 10:45 and was out at iPlay America. Her afternoon party was around the corner from our house. CoolMom came back from dropping her off over there and said, "We have to go back over to that party. The whole town is there."
As we got closer to the house, all the little kids at the party passed us on the road, being driven on a little train. The yard had three bouncy houses, a little carnival spinny-type ride, and plenty of beverages for all of the parents. There were piñatas and water balloon wars. Another couple that we're friends with were there accompanying their kids, and I jumped at the opportunity to invite another cooldad to the punk rock show with me. I'm not sure if he knew what to expect; but I don't think either of us really could have imagined what we were about to see.
Presented by our friends at Speak Into My Good Eye, this was another all-ages show. Music started early so that the show could finish up before midnight. New Brunswick's Kicking Spit started things. The band, like Screaming Females, play a brand of punk rock that relies on some powerful lead guitar. Through the noise, the trio reference lots of classic rock in a way similar to Dinosaur Jr. Guitarist Mark Bronzino was impressive in the J. Mascis role.
Tenement, recent Don Giovanni signee from Appleton, WI, were next. More noise pop or pop-punk than Kicking Spit's, Tenement's sound also contains traces of classic rock, though with fewer extended guitar solos. The band lived up to their reputation as all-out live performers, and appeared completely spent following their short set.
My friend and I were loving the evening so far, and the two headliners were still to come. We hit the merch tables before Waxahatchee's set, and then moved up front.
Katie Crutchfield and her band took the stage at around 9:30, opening with Cerulean Salt's "Peace and Quiet." The set was heavy on tracks from that record, and -- as has been the case the last couple of times I've seen Waxahatchee -- even songs like the title track from American Weekend got the full-on power trio treatment.
Waxahatchee are kind of the outlier stylistically on this tour. That's not a bad thing at all. Crutchfield's songwriting and unique voice held the crowd rapt for the entire set. My friend -- the father of a daughter the same age as CoolDaughter #1 -- turned to me and said something along the lines of, "I wish my daughter could have been here to see that, to know that she could write songs and front a band that way."
"Just wait, " I said.
At about 10:20, Screaming Females -- the New Brunswick trio of Jarrett D (drums), King Mike (bass), and Marissa Paternoster (guitar / vocals) -- took their places, and lit into "It All Means Nothing" from 2012's Ugly. Up to this point, I'd only ever seen Screaming Females as an opening act; and I'd never seen them when Paternoster had the room to move afforded by the large stage at Asbury Lanes. It was almost like I'd never seen them before.
Paternoster stalked and leapt around the stage, played from her knees or while lying on her back. And the band never let up, never stopped. There was no stage banter. There were no breaks between songs. The set was more than an hour of non-stop music, Paternoster executing her guitar wizardry the whole time. As usual, the rhythm section -- a huge part of the band's sound -- was excellent. But, and this is meant as no slight to Jarrett and Mike, it was almost impossible to turn your gaze from Marissa.
Paternoster finished the main set by setting her guitar aside, disassembling the mic stand and making her way into the crowd. The band returned for an encore, taking the stage one-by-one; and we all stood open-mouthed when they finally walked off for the final time.
My friend, who'd never heard a single note by any of the bands before last night, just shook his head in disbelief over what we'd just seen. On the car ride home, we talked at length about what it would mean to our 10-year-old daughters to see bands like Waxahatchee and Screaming Females perform live. I think we'll both be on Amazon this morning, shopping for some tween-sized earmuffs as we wait for the next opportunity.
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