PHOTOS: CHAD ELDER | We know all too well what happens with musicians from Seattle left to their devices in a place that’s raining and grey for over half the year—they’re stuck inside. And what do you do inside? Listen to a lot of records and play a lot of music.
The darkness and the dreary weather and seclusion of the indoors has made Seattle a breeding ground for loud, heavy, weird—and awesome. My Goodness, themselves from Seattle have that heaviness, but don’t sound quintessentially of Seattle. Their sound is an almost perfect melding of blues, metal, and simple but hard hitting punk chords—yet there is nothing slouchy here…the band is very, very tight.
My Goodness pulls off the delicate balance of paying a small homage to their influences, and sounding completely different at the same time. Although these genres are often interchangeable and have been stirred and shaken by the best music mixologists (we salute you Mr. Jack White) you have never heard anything quite like this. These guys deliver live like a true hardcore band, unrelenting and driving from song to song where you can’t look away, sneak to the restroom, or even talk to you friend standing next to you about what a great show it is, but at the same time I could take my most sensitive of friends who prefer seeing music in a VIP box at a stadium or a nice seated theatre, and they wouldn’t be turned off.
I am basically using way too much text to say this band is accessible and for the people, not just kids waiting to mosh, yet that is welcome too. Oh, and if you need another stamp of credibility, bass player Cody Votolato was the guitarist in Blood Brothers.
Hometown band (by way of Boston) Crash Kings headlined this show of the co-headlining tour with My Goodness. Being a long time fan I was excited to see what these guys would do playing after such heavy openers. Don’t get me wrong however, Crash Kings definitely rock, but they also write poppy, catchy, radio friendly songs.
As catchy and singalong friendly, Crash Kings slay as musicians. This band is truly, truly unique—a keys lead three piece with Tony Beliveau at the helm with a piano, vintage keyboards, and a clavinet, Mike Beliveau on bass, and Tommy Rose on drums. For the uninitiated, the clavinet is a keyboard looking device that is essentially a 60 string guitar that Mr. Beliveau plays with a whammy bar called a castle bard that bends the notes, and in doing so mimics the sound of a guitar.
The Crash Kings kicked off their set with the groove filled new song, “Ms. Mysterious” off the stripped down “Live Nudes” EP and throughout the show the band expertly shifted their standard set—fan favorites like “It’s Only Wednesday,” and “1985” had the crowd singing along, yet toward the end of their set, the band launched into some incredibly impressive, mind bending experimental jams, with heavy bass up front and some note bending and clavinet twisting which turned into additional fan fave “All Along.” Minds were blown and chins dropped throughout the room. These guys are total masters of their craft, a bragging right that they rarely showcase—because they know most people want a song not a noodle.
The band swung in and out of these liberty taking sessions expertly feeding off the energy of the audience and launching into what felt like a very organic spaced out jam into their big radio hit “Mountain Man” taking this song to a whole new level which is hard to do with a hit. Returning for two encores the both band and the fans clearly enjoyed the show. There’s got to be something very special indeed about knowing you can always come home to that great hometown energy.
MY GOODNESS
CRASH KINGS
