[ATTENDED: October 18, 2022] The Black Angels
The Black Angels are a psychedelic band from Austin, Texas.
I’ve known about them for about ten years. Their music sounds pretty similar from album to album–fuzzy guitars, catchy riffs and Alex Maas’ recognizable haunting voice.
I Wasn’t really sure what to expect in a live show from them–I assumed some psychedelia. So I was a little surprised at how stripped down their stage was. There was a five panel screen and some vertical lights between them. The l ights shone all different colors and patterns and set the tone of the stage. The overhead lights were mostly there to add mood.
In other words, I could barely see anyone. Which was kind of cool. It created a dark ambiance and meant you focused more on the music than the band members. The only person I could see with any real clarity was drummer Stephanie Bailey, who pounded the hell out of the drums. The other three guys, Christian Bland, Jake Garcia and Ramiro Verdooren all played guitar or bass or keyboards. There was so much switching around of instruments–even though both Bland and Garcia play left handed guitars!
I stood in front of Bland and it was really fun watching him solo and riff and make some really interesting sounds out of his pedals and amps. He had a bicycle bell on his mic stand (the roadie rang he bell while setting it up), but he never used it in the set. (more…)
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