I'm not going to lie; the only reason I went to this show was to see our buddies Lucas Young & The Wilderness, and also I'm not gonna lie and say I stayed there to watch the headliner The Fronteirsmen.
I'm sorry to say that I'm part of the curse of the Reno music scene that has trouble getting stoked on the local bands; but as long as we're being honest here, seeing one that I'm really impressed with comes very few and far between.
One exception last night was the likes of locals "Lucas Young & The Wilderness"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/lucasyoungandthewilderness
Young's project, which features a rotating cast of musicians was one band that I was really impressed with; especially given the circumstances under which the group had to practice. They were able to rehearse twice before their debut show.
The band, which came fully equipped with 4 (yes four) guitars (Lucas Stephenson- Vocals/guitar, Sean Nelligan- guitar, Roger Brown- guitar/keyboards, and Timothy Weber - "Ole' Nashville" as his acoustic was so lovingly referred to as) only faced minor setbacks given the wall of sound 4 guitars can produce. Each guitarist had parts that complimented and without a doubt needed to be part of the song. (I realized this as Brown's guitar cut out mid-song; leaving a distinct hole where his part should be) Tim's acoustic was more seen than heard, however there would have undoubtedly been something missing if he had not been playing. Nelligan's leads were as buttery as a cold miller high life, Lucas held down the rhythm parts as the obvious leader of the band, and Roger complimented Lucas' parts seamlessly. Despite minor tuning issues, I was incredibly impressed how the 4 guitars worked together with ease to create the sound that they did.
Colin Christian, who owns and operates Stretchwire Sound, a recording studio in sparks; was recruited to play bass. Christian is a bass player that moves with ease and experience. Many people forget how important an actual bassist is to a band, and Colin proved this last night. His parts are featured when they need to be, but also simple and in the groove.
Darryl Mullikin splits his time between session drumming here in Reno and playing with the Portland band Icarus The Owl.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Icarustheowl
Darryl's drumming is for lack of a better word, impressive. The guys got some serious chops. Like Christian though, he knows where and when to use them and where to be the time keeper. He played through every song without a hiccup, and it's always fun to see how he keeps himself interested both with stage presence and his ever-changing stage setup; which last night consisted of a floor-tom in place of the rack-tom and some impressively large cymbals to boot.
Lucas' vocals are sweet and sultry with a southern tinge that always seem to stick in your head, and he too failed to skip a beat by serenading the crowd with his catchy melodies throughout the set.
As a whole, the band played very well together throughout their set, each song was easily differentiated from one another and had it's own unique quality. My personal favorite was "This Lonely Ocean" which sets a laid-back 6/8 groove to an excellent melody line, culminating with a powerful chorus that eventually sweeps back into the intro riff and Lucas singing.
All in all, I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next, great band, great songs, great show.
The next band was an out-of-towner called "The Crosswalk". I was so excited as they entered their first song with a bluesy riff and lyric that was very reminiscent of a newer Kings of Leon song. However, then fun stopped when they launched their second song only to set themselves back with the ever-present "emo-scream" and post-punk breakdown that lumps so many bands together. This band has great potential, and some really good ideas, but I lost interest as soon as the second, third, and forth song started sounding exactly the same.
ALBATROSS&anchor (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ALBATROSSanchor/169915506367729?sk=info) is the folk-tinged side-project of Tim from alldaydrive. The show was their EP release show, and it was obvious that a large portion of the crowd was there to see them. The band consists Tim on Vocals/banjo/guitar, and (I'm sorry I don't know the names to place on the other musicians) a keyboard/harmony vocalist, electric guitar, bass, drums, and fiddle.
The first song was plagued by some technical difficulties, leaving the crowd with their hands on their ears. The band solidly moved through their set though, putting their folky vibe on foot-tapping pop-punk songs. Twas a good set to say the least.
It was a good night of good music. Once again, I'm sorry to say that I missed The Frontiersmen (I hear they play a great live set) but the idea of sleep got the best of me.
It looks like the local scene is once again in a revival stage, and I hope this time it sticks around a little bit longer. There's a lot of good things up and coming, and all of the locals that I saw proved that last night. So if you're thinking about a good time to connect yourself, it is now because it may all be dead again in a matter of months. Check out any of these bands via the links I posted or just search on facebook to see their schedule for shows coming up.
Thank you and goodnight,
TJ
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