A Night on the Old Town

Sunday night my son and I went and hung out in Arlene’s. That would be Arlene’s Grocery on Stanton in the east village (aka the Lower East Side (LES)). Regardless, of all of that, it has been a while. I routinely do check out who is playing over there and just rarely recognize a folks I use to go see. Bands, audiences. . . Scenes just change. And I have been going to Arlene’s since like 2005. 

As it would turn out Sunday night featured both a band, I knew and have seen multiple times over the years, and likewise my son’s guitar teacher was in another of the four acts they had lined up. So, we decided to make a night of it. It is cool that now and again the kid and I will go and check something out. Mainly, we go see Thin Lizzy tributes. In that space the apple has not fallen far from the tree. 

No Lizzy this past Sunday, May 2nd. Based upon the two acts we did see it; I would describe it as a hard rock-jazz fusion show. So, something different. We arrived at 8 or so and the third band was just getting set up. In hindsight, that just blows me away. To have had two bands done before 8 was just unheard of in the not so long past. Interestingly, that band that had finished minutes before we walked in was the band I knew. 

That being Thrilldriver. They were for a while routinely playing the Bowery Electric (Now the Bowery Palace) playing with Ten Ton Mojo, or Mad Juana. Liza Colby Sound was probably another they played with. That was back ten years ago now. My expectation was that they would be last up on Sunday, and that would happen at like 10 PM? Certainly, later in the evening. Nope, they were second up and followed by two other acts. 

As luck would have it, Phil’s guitar teacher’s band was up. Light Brand. It was not really by luck. The guy told Phil they were going on at 8, and I figured they would be followed by one or two others. They were cool. Had a certain hard rock vibe going. More than once, I was thinking Rush, or Zeppelin. The singer had quite the range, a rich soprano voice. What stood out though were the instrumentals, the musical chops. 

They rocked out. A tight outfit. All knew their instruments starting with the guitarist, David Kuhn. But again, they were all good players. Emily Kay Shrader on vocals, Aron Caceres on bass, Lucas Ebeling on drums, and again David Kuhn on guitar. They just released an album, Wake Up, this past March.

Going back to the show, it was more than just good playing. It was also what they were playing. They were doing a little more than the standard 4/4 rhythm with a couple chords over the top. These folks were doing something I have not seen much of in a while. Certainly, somewhere in the “progressive” space but more they were for my money mixing in some jazz. It has simply been ages since I have seen or heard such. 

I was intrigued with the likes of Steve Morse and the Dregs way back when. This is what I thought of. Another player that came to mind was Greg Howe, who is again in that progressive hard rock – jazz fusion space. He is more the late 80s and 90s. I caught Howe in early 80s in this tiny venue in the woods along the Delaware River in Belvedere NJ, the SS Diane. He just blew me away that night. He was maybe 25 and was just nailing Eddie’s playing. Never mind all of that. Try. . . It is his playing, his original material, and the style he developed in the years that followed that I allude to. 

So that is what I went back to as I took in that show last Sunday. It has been a while since I have seen such playing. I am a huge Jeff Beck fan, but this is different again from that. Perhaps progressive rock is how to describe it. I just have not kept up. 

I will perhaps have to start keeping up, cause the next up, Fist, continued largely in that vein. Again, they were playing in that rock / jazz fusion space. This time with a keyboardist, who just added to the richness of the sound. The playing was perhaps a little more balanced. I mean by that they played one song written by the drummer, another by the bass player.

Again, very technically nuanced playing. Structured. Coming from Liza Colby, and Ten Ton Mojo. Honestly, I have not seen those in a while either. It has just been a while since I have seen such playing. Three decades since I have pondered such. I wish I could offer more but my limited search came up with limited results.

Now, Fist did do a Zeppelin cover. They did I believe “No Quarter” from Houses of the Holy. So, there was some rock n roll. But a very moody rich tune with both some cool keyboards and guitar. Just some nice playing that this band highlighted and accentuated on this Sunday night. Not the first time I had seen such at Arlene’s. F*Bomb (Which I owe a post) did a Zeppelin show there not too long ago. Purple Pam I believe did the vocals. 

Thrilldriver, who I had come to see and missed, is certainly in that progressive hard rock space. Again, they have some good playing and some interesting arrangements. I wish I had caught them in this mix of bands. Next time.