Rye Coalition at The Bell House

The band called Rye Coalition has existed for twenty years and everyone in the band is my age. Wow, that's sobering. I'm not sure I had even seen a live band twenty years ago unless you count classical orchestras or that one Monkees concert my cousins dragged me to in the mid-80s. I don't think those should count.

Rye Coalition would probably be called punk if they were the least bit pretentious, say if they dressed the part or were political at all. They have that ability to project a sense of sloppiness and wildness while actually playing carefully-crafted songs which you see in experienced punk bands. It's like they're fusing hardcore, metal, punk, and all sorts of loud rock while keeping the resulting musical frankenstein under control. They are not the wildest band in the world but they sure have lots of energy. Their philosophy must be to let the crowd go crazy, and I'm guessing this works out very nicely for them.

Posted: 4/16/2013 at 6:40pm     Tags: Dig Deeper  Norton Records Benefit  Rye Coalition  The Bell House 

The Sonics at The Bell House

I'm impressed when a band keeps going for five years. The Sonics have been going at it for fifty years and they still sound great! I assume they took a few breaks during the last half-century to grow up and have kids and whatever, but anyway, I was expecting at least the singing to have lost some energy over time. Not at all -- each of their three of their lead singers nailed it and the crowd loved every minute of it. Some people may have loved it a little too much since there were several fights at the show! Rock 'n roll?

Considering that they sell out bigger venues than The Bell House it was rather nice of these guys to play a benefit show for Norton Records. They also let Norton co-founder (and A-Bones drummer) Mirriam Linna play on a song. Yeah, she had a good night.

Posted: 4/16/2013 at 6:14pm     Tags: Dig Deeper  Norton Records Benefit  The Bell House  The Sonics 

Daddy Long Legs at The Bell House

Daddy Long Legs have an incredible impact for a band with such a stripped-down sound. Sometimes it's just vocals over rhythm (guitar, drums, and usually some stompin') but even those songs are surprisingly intense and chock full of attitude. When they let their guitarist loose the energy just floods out of these guys.

Needless to say catching them live is a blast. As for their recordings... I don't know because they only just released something on CD after unpteen vinyl singles. Dangit, not every music lover cares about vinyl!

Posted: 3/24/2013 at 9:39pm     Tags: Daddy Long Legs  Norton Records Benefit  The Bell House 

The Reigning Sound at The Bell House

Unfortunately The Reigning Sound are very popular. I left the front of the stage for a few minutes to use the restroom and never got near it again. This a good half-hour before they went on! Oh well, here are fewer photos than I would have liked of an awesome band.

Posted: 10/21/2012 at 6:42pm     Tags: The Bell House  The Reigning Sound 

Baxx Sisi's at The Bell House

Amazingly I have never caught the Baxx Sisi's (formerly The Back C.C.s) at The Bell House. They play there all the time supporting bands like The Detroit Cobras and The Reigning Sound. While they still mostly play high-energy garage rock lately they have diversified a bit and added a funky song, an instrumental or two, and of course lead singer "Kick" Kikuchi rockin' that harmonica on a bluesy number. It's all badass rock-n-roll, just with a bit more variety than before.

Posted: 10/21/2012 at 4:45pm     Tags: Baxx Sisi's  The Bell House 

O'Death at The Bell House

Know when is the best time to see a band play? At the end of a tour. Usually they're sharp as a blade. O'Death sure was! Thanks by the way to The Bell House for turning up the lights. Take a look at my last set of O'Death photos if you want to know what was wrong with the place before. Way, way too dark.

Posted: 10/9/2011 at 3:28pm     Tags: O'Death  The Bell House  turned up the lights 

The Woes at The Bell House

The Woes remind me of The Greenhornes and The Sadies. Yes I suppose you could call them a bluesy rock band, and at times they certainly rock out. But some of the ballads have a hint of something much older. Perhaps New Orleans jazz? Although I have to admit that I preferred the rock, it is an intriguing style.

Posted: 10/9/2011 at 1:59pm     Tags: The Bell House  The Woes