I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 9, 2023] Bully

I was excited for both opening bands at this show.  I had wanted to see Bully back in 2021 at Underground Arts.

But I had a ticket to see Baroness that night and couldn’t make it.  That show looks like it was great.  She played around twenty songs from throughout her catalog.  I don’t know if she had a band or was solo.

For this show, my first time seeing her, she had a band.  And they sounded great.  Singer/guitarist/really everything that is Bully, Alicia Bognanno, was right in front of us.  Wesley Mitchell was on drums right behind her.  Nick Byrd was on bass on my right.  And a guitar player and backing vocalist was on my left.  I never caught her name but she was an essential component to the sound.

So they played eight songs, all from the new album.  I see that at other shows she threw in a couple of older songs.  But whatever.  I like her sound and her voice and while I didn’t know that many of the songs, they sounded great and Bognanno’s intensity is wonderful.

“Lose You” is her latest single and it sounded great live.

I really enjoyed Nick Byrd’s bass playing–he played a couple of lead lines that I assumed were guitar parts.  He also played chords on a few tracks, which really accentuated the low end.

For the final song, Bognanno put her guitar down and screamed a punky song called “All That Noise.”  It was intense and so was she:

Jesus won’t save the polar bears or halt the melting ice
But he’ll give you an excuse to shame and take our bodies rights
There’s an AR-15 in your house it’s got one job to do
It’s to quickly kill as many things that you want it to
But god forbid we take action to keep our children safe
As our ego stands in center stage another life it takes

And I’m tired
Of waiting
For change and debating

I can’t handle all this noise
My body is not your choice
There’s no glory to be found
America’s been burning down

She didn’t say anything to us.  She played and kicked ass for thirty minutes and then left.  It was a great set.  I wondered if that was how she normally is or if she was different for an opening set.  I’d like to see her headline.

1. Hard to Love £
2. Lose You £
3. A Wonderful Life £
4. All I Do £
5. Change Your Mind £
6. A Love Profound £
7. Days Move Slow £
8. All This Noise £

£ Lucky for You (2023)