[ATTENDED: February 4, 2020] Seratones
I first heard of Seratones on a Tiny Desk Concert back in 2016. I was really impressed at how great they were.
When they announced a show at Johnny Brenda’s I knew I’d want to see them. And they did not disappoint.
Their new album Power is a bit more soul and a little less rocking than their debut, but when they played it live, it totally rocked.
I watched the band set up their gear. Singer A.J. Hayes was not wearing the big red skirt as she did so. After they were all set up, they stepped away and then came back right at 9.
They opened with a wave of synths from Tyran Coker as Hayes showed off her amazing voice. It was like the coolest warm up a vocalist could do as she sang “like a heart attack” slowly and in different pitches until she signaled to drummer Jesse Gabriel that the song was ready to start. And with those clicks, “Heart Attack” rocked out. I loved that they allowed for some serious jamming in this song.
On the record the song is 3 minutes, but this version included a little drum solo and a lengthy keyboard solo while Hayes yelped and rocked out up front. It got everyone moving.
Hayes was a lot of fun with an impressive voice capable of big powerful howls, shrieking yips and a lot of passion. She is definitely the focal point of the show, but bassist Adam Davis (the golden boy in his gold suit) is more or less in charge of the music. He doesn’t do lead lines or anything crazy, but everyone looks to him for direction.
The set mostly came from their new album, Power, but there were a few older songs like “Chandelier,” a song I really like from their debut. There was a cool solo from Travis Stewart. Stewart is new since the Tiny Desk and he absolutely shreds. He was given a few opportunities to show off with some lengthy soloing and he used them to get the crowd pumped. He wasn’t showing off, he was showing how good a ripping guitar solo could sound.
Hayes talked to a bunch between songs and has a wonderful charisma. I was amused that as she sang “Over You” she pointed to various people that she was over–although I think she graciously didn’t actually point to anyone in the audience.
Introducing “Lie to My Face” she said that the song was for the ladies. Well, it was for everybody, but it was mostly for her ladies.
After a couple more new songs, they played the first song they’d ever written, “Necromancer,” which totally rocked.
Occasionally Hayes put down the guitar to dance and move while she sang. She did this for the best song on the new album–“Gotta Get to Know Ya.” What a chorus!
During “Sad Boi” Hayes sat at the edge of the stage. The venue wasn’t very full, so she then hopped down into the crowd and had certain people sing along. Then she continued most of the song from the floor walking around next to people (including me).
Before “Power” with its chorus of
We take two steps forward,
They take one step backward.
We take each step to lift us up Higher.
she asked everyone to take two steps forward so we were closer to the stage as she sang out this uplifting song.
When the song ended, Hayes left the stage, but the band continued to jam. After a minute or so Hayes came back out and they proceeded to play two songs from Get Gone, the rocking “Kingdom Come” and the song that introduced them to me, “Don’t Need It.” These two older songs absolutely rocked and were a fantastic set-ender.
About “Don’t Need It” she said that it was a song about anti-consumerism, and yet she did hope that we would consider spending some money on their merch.
I assumed that was the end of the show entirely–if she left before, did that make those two songs an encore?
The whole band waved and left the stage but after some serious cheering, they did come back out again. This actually felt like an earned encore, not a planned one.
They had a proper encore up their sleeve with the final song on Power, “Crossfire.” This song started slowly with just synths and Hayes pleading to “Mother:
i’ve had enough today.
tried to recover, but don’t know who to blame…
i wonder how one can sleep at night–
i don’t know who to Trust when i saw the flash of Light.
After a couple of minutes, the song picks up and, even though it is a serious song, it does rock out toward es the end, leaving everyone in a joyful mood.
The show ended quite early (yaay) and I was about to head out. But since Hayes had mentioned something about supporting musicians and buying merch I went over to the merch table. There was a line but no one to give money to! Hayes and Davis were talking to fans while we waited at the table. I gave them five minutes (because if I could leave at 10:15 that would be amazing).
As I was about to give up, Davis came over and was super friendly. I told him about seeing them on Tiny Desk and we chatted a bit about that.
As I went to leave, I saw that Hayes was still talking, so I headed out and got home super early!
It was a great show for a band who deserves a bigger audience.
SETLIST
- Heart Attack ¶
- Who Are You Now ¶
- Chandelier ©
- Over You ¶
- Lie to My Face ¶
- Permission ¶
- Necromancer 7″
- Gotta Get to Know Ya ¶
- Sad Boi ¶
- Power ¶
- Kingdom Come ©
- Don’t Need It ©
encore - Crossfire ¶
7″ = Necromancer single (2015)
© = Get Gone (2016)
¶ = Power (2019)
I Just Read About That... 
Leave a comment