[ATTENDED: September 26, 2021] Osees
I didn’t really know the Osees very well when I bought tickets to this show (which had been rescheduled, but I didn’t have tickets to the original show). I knew them more from knowing their history of names changes. [They have recorded as OCS, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees and now Osees]. And also from the Levitation/Reverb Appreciation Society live stream/quarantine shows.
Because of this, and because of the chill nature of the opener, Mr. Elevator, I never expected the show to be as wild, raucous and mosh pit filled as it was.
The first indicator should have been when the two drummer set up at he front of the stage (nods to King Crimson, there). But it wasn’t until main Osees guy (the only one who has been in all iterations of the band) John Dwyer came out on stage (off to the left as we faced the stage). He noted that it was Sunday, the Lord’s day, then he started playing “The Dream” and the crowd went apeshit.
Within minutes I was pushed pretty far to the side of the crowd, safely out of the way of flying feet.
Their set covered albums from 2011 (their twelfth album) through to last year’s Metamorphosed (their 23rd album). It was glorious.
Most of the songs sounded vaguely the same–fast and intense, with perfectly in sync drums (it was so much fun watching these two guy synchronize) and very loose guitars. Obviously I didn’t know any of the songs, but people seemed to know specific ones very well. There was a lot of fast drumming, screamed vocals and Dwyer’s consistent sliding up to the high notes as the echoed away. They reminded me of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, even though I’m pretty sure OCS were first,
At the end of “The Dream” he squeaked a toy squeaker in his mouth, which I thought was just a fun weird thing, but which I now realize was the beginning of “The Daily Heavy,” one of two songs from Face Stabber. This song had a real garage rock feel with a repeated “knock knock” or some other vocal sound at the end of each verse.
“Tidal Wave” slowed things down a bit, but just a bit, because things didn’t really slow down until “Sticky Hulks” which allowed Mr. Elevator keyboardist Tomas Dolas a chance to show off his chops.
Things resumed their fast and wild nature until “Encrypted Bounce” which had a few moments of breathing room. Then came the slow but heavy “Toe Cutter / Thumb Buster” which was all about heavy bass riffs and buzzy guitar solos.
Although most of the songs were fast, near the end of the set, the combination of “Ticklish Warrior” and the super fast “Gholü” was an intense experience.
They ended the show as I gather they always do, with the song “C.” It’s a lengthy jam, with lots of keyboard soloing and an interesting moment where Dwyer took the cable out of his guitar and buzzed it along the cymbal, adding unimaginable noises to the overall racket.
The show was intense, exhausting and a ton of fun. I am so glad I went .
- The Dream ©
- The Daily Heavy ⇔
- Tidal Wave $
- I Come From the Mountain ≅
- Nite Expo Θ
- The Static God Θ
- Sticky Hulks ℵ
- Rogue Planet ℵ
- Jettisoned Θ
- Web ℵ
- Scramble Suit II ∇
- Terminal Jape ∇
- Electric War ♦
- Encrypted Bounce ⇓
- Toe Cutter / Thumb Buster ≅
- Withered Hand ℵ
- Ticklish Warrior ⊗
- Gholü ⇔
- Turned Out Light ℵ
- C §
⊗ = A Weird Exits (2016)
Θ = Orc (2017)
⇔ = Face Stabber (2019)
♦ = Metamorphosed (2020)
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