Kicking off this lovely Friday evening at the always fabulous Red Gate was a band I thought I had seen previously. Still, shockingly, I was wrong as the trio ANODYNE offered their indie pop rock, warming the crowd up nicely.
Full of upbeat jams that stayed firmly in that indie rock vein, they were fast enough to get the feet moving but not so fast to alienate the crowd. Mostly foot tapping, but a solid handful joined me in full-blown flailing.
Solid guitar work and clean vocals lead the way, with the bass and drums keeping a steady pace. Drums got a little sloppy at times, but nothing major. I found their newer songs better and more enjoyable, a sign of a band on the up.
Following was a bittersweet offering from one of my favorites, the trio DANES, who played their final show with their current drummer—possibly the last one ever- as that is not a drummer a band can easily replace.
Fucking killer bass riffs with majestic tones click with some of the most exciting drums on the scene. The pair-up between them will be sorely missed, as that rhythm section always brought the fire and was one of the best in the city.
Throw on top of it all some passionate and powerful vocals; this band will be greatly missed. I hope the drummer, who is moving, starts a new band so I can make a road trip to see. Indeed, they are a fantastic drummer, one I will miss a lot.
Closing out the set was the quartet WARM, who occupied the space between DANES and ANODYNE, offering us chill jams that would explode into high energy as everything picked up.
The vocals were crunchy, a gravely-ness to them, with a good scream when they got loud. Drums were tight, and everything had a thickness when they got heavy. Suitable for the flailing, though despite a really good-sized crowd, they were primarily immobile; always a shame for a great offering.
I finished this Friday evening at the Fox Cabaret where, once again, He compelled me to flail to “hits” for two hours, capping off His pleasure from the night.