I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: January 27, 2020] Camp Howard

This was S’s first time at Johnny Brenda’s and we had to decide between floor and balcony.  We chose floor and it was pretty cool being so close to the band.  Although in the middle of this set a big gaggle of bros came in and started hugging each other and talking.  It was nice that they were so friendly and happy to see each other, but I didn’t need that right in front of me.  So after a couple of songs we moved over a bit (to a location I rather prefer anyway).

I’m always torn about the balcony there because the balcony is amazing, but I so much prefer to be in the thick of it (even if I complain that I’m too short).

Camp Howard is a four-piece from Richmond, VA.

They seemed to have a pretty big following at this show (although I’d never heard of them before).

The first song started with the left-right line up of Matt Benson on bass, Nic Perea on guitar and vocals, and Wes Parker on guitar with Brian Larson on drums in the back.

I really liked their sound and was pretty impressed that Perea sang in both Spanish and English (and his Spanish sounded really good–not like mine does). “Cañón” had jangly guitars interspersed with a nice riff and bass lines.  It also had cool guitar effects, and I loved that after a minute or so it switched gears entirely into a more stomping rocker before circling back to that jangly sound.  This multi-part style was evident in nearly all of the songs which crammed a ton of cool ideas into a short span of music.

“Light of the Moon” had a great bass sound.  I really liked the way this song was sort of slow and groovy with a cool bass riff and when the chorus came along, some fantastic harmonies.  It also, like most of the other songs, changed directions majorly for the end by adding a very quiet denouement.

“Mismo” continued in that bilingual style with, once again, some really cool guitar sounds.

We moved during “Placid” which had some cool guitar sounds and riffs from Wes Parker.  At some point Parker told us that he used to deliver for Uber Eats in Philly.  So if you’d ever gotten a delivery from McDonald’s, it may have been him.

Then mid set they played musical chairs.  Perea stepped left and picked up the bass.  Parker stepped left and picked up Perea’s guitar and Benson moved all the way to the right and was now playing Parker’s guitar.

Although most of the songs were fairly short, they did jam a few songs a little longer.  There were even some harder sections where Parker wound up losing his hat from rocking so hard.

Parker took over lead vocals for the rest of the set.  “Fucked Up” which had very different style–a more angular sound.  Parker also sang “Don’t Say Shit You Don’t Mean” (so I guess Parker is the potty-mouth and Perea is the bilingual-mouth).

I feel like they played more than seven songs, but these are the seven that I know they played.

I’m really glad they opened and I hope to see them again some day.

SETLIST (appriximated)

1. Cañón
2. Mismo
3. Light On The Moon
4. Fucked Up
5. Placid
6. Surprise
7. Don’t Say Shit You Don’t Mean

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