We had ourselves a lovely little evening over at Republic last Wednesday; Radio Rubber Room offered us a heap of good tunes from Red Light Rodeo, followed by The Dirty Picture Show.
I’ve described Red Light Rodeo as comfort music before – they’ve got a nice simple makeup (three piece consisting of Wes Cantor on guitar, Zach Miller plucking mandolin, and the ever-solid Zach Hudgins on stand-up, all chiming-in on vocals) which gives their sound a non-imposing touch. And while they may be a great opening act for that reason, I imagine those boys could go on all night.
I love nothing more than seeing a band make fun of itself a little bit on stage, a point I’ve perhaps beaten to death. I got a particular kick out of their marginally raunchy, light hearted tune “My Gal’s Pussy.” One thing you simply don’t see enough these days is a nice spot-on three part harmony, which Red Light Rodeo certainly achieves. All this is to say, next time Red Light Rodeo plays out, catch them – in their bluejeans, cowboy shirts, boots and buckles.
Now The Dirty Picture Show, I've written about far too many times by this point. Fortunately, they change it up every show. I think I may have seen a very pivotal moment last Wednesday, in which Luke Wilson put down his guitar and seemed to transform from a dude on stage into a True Frontman. It was a badass moment.
For some reason, I’m actually able to believe Luke when he sings his blues. A blues song without true blues behind it is nothing but hot trash-air, but I can really get behind some of these blues numbers The Dirty Picture Show pulls out.
Key moments in these sets are almost always Taylor Laub-oriented. He plays with a strange carelessness that makes me care about his playing. He hits those invaluable dissonant notes that eradicate the possibility of cheesiness. There was a moment last Wednesday where I felt like I was at a Phish show, and for some reason, even though I don’t really like Phish, it seemed awesome to me.
Coming up this week, Radio Rubber Room lays two lovely bands on us – Cardinal Compass and The Northerners. Hannah Marie and her Bearded Ladies just joined a few months back, which was a tasty treat. Now she’s back with her main squeeze, Cardinal Compass, which I think is a better fit for The Northerners than you could really ask for.
And what do you know? This week I get to review The Northerners for something like the fifth time, but these fine young lads and lasses always seem to have something new up their sleeves. As always, can’t wait til Wednesday night at The Republic, 10pm.
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Words by Dan Mulrooney
Images by Tyler M. Conta