I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2024] Cold Court

I saw Cold Court back in July of last year when they opened for Black Midi.  All I could find out about them then was that they were from Philadelphia.

They have an Instagram page but there’s not much on it.  And any searches reveal pretty much that they opened for Black Midi and very little else.

According to live at the Lawn Jawn (a video online), this was the lineup of the band about two weeks before the Black Midi show:

Mini Serrano (Guitar, Vocals), Josyah Lavina-Maldonado (Guitar, Vocals), Theo Shuttleworth (Bass), Jett Mann (Drums), Charlie Westlake (Saxophone, Synth), Alex Ramirez (Viola), and Joe Kuck (Percussion).

There were five members of the band for this show.

I didn’t know what songs they played last time.  And I’m not really sure what they played this time.

When I saw them open for Black Midi, they inspired a mosh pit.  I kind of thought that they might inspire one at this show (or at least, there might have been more of an audience for them).  But the crowd was fairly small and pretty chill.  However, I think they inspired a lot of appreciation.  I heard the guys in the other bands compliment them and I know man y people in the audience approached them after the show (including me) to say how much they liked the set.

How best to describe them?  There are moments of utter and complete noise–where everyone on stage is simply going berserk–screeching guitar, sax (!) and the drummer hitting everything in sight.  The thing I noticed more this time was how well their bassist held the whole thing together–great basslines that kept the beat but were interesting as well.

There are also moments of calm, where it’s clear the band knows what they’re doing–serious chord and tempo changeups, quiet intros and the band in total sync.

Some of the lyrics were spoken, but some were screamed.

They opened with a song that had a major groove to it–easy to dance to and then with some really great guitar work.  The song ended with a frenzy of drums and keys.

There are two singers in the band Mini Serrano sings most of the songs but Josyah Lavina-Maldonado sings lead on a few as well. Some of the songs have jazzy elements and a whole slew of interesting keyboard effects too.  But the overall vibe is a heavy punkiness.

I’m not sure what songs they played.  And they don'[t have a bandcamp page or anything.  Mini said that they were planning on recording an album soon.  And I’m goin to say it’s a must listen.