It Isn’t All Painting and Fences
Last night was one of those where I could have been in six places at once. I put catching the EP release show for Painting Fences atop my list. With it came some of the best stage lighting I’ve seen at Pho Cao and two bands new to me. It included a couple extra guests during the Painting Fences set too. It was a blast to be at.
If seeing Zero Degrees North for my third Saturday in a row does not show how high in regard I hold them, I don’t know what can. These three are a blast on that stage. Tonight Ava was a little more tethered to the stage without the wireless receiver. That didn’t keep her from entering the crowd. They brought a great sense of humor up there, which included the shirts that Annabelle and Ava wore on stage. Go check out their Instagram for the complete set with the third one on Garrett. What can I say that I haven’t otherwise said before? Zero Degrees North is awesome.
The energy of musicians kept going with Dwarf up on that stage. Sage said they had been around a little bit, but for me, this was a great first impression. Sage has an excellent singing voice up there, lending a great sound to the songs. Then there was Bailey who I don’t know if there was a moment he stood still. Now that I have the CD for reference, I believe it was during their “Another Punk Song” that they had a harder, excited jumping around moment with both Sage and Bailey. I was enamored watching the performance from Dwarf up there. They are a just a good rock sound, maybe bordering on the Alternative Rock sound. I will certainly try to catch Dwarf again.
After that was the band with the best name of the night, Hostile Work Environment. These guys are an awesome indie rock, like the Strokes, with an underlying jazz sound on some of the slower songs. They have a good baseline and great vocals. Plus the song that they gave instructions on how to do the “One, Two, Kill Yourself” had me laughing. Despite my envy of their hair, and mine being less wavy, they were another killer band that left a great first impression on me.
Then we came to the extravaganza that was Painting Fences celebrating the new EP, “Prelude to a Fall.” The new EP tells a little rock opera across the three tracks. In addition, you get a rocking cover of our local Fairy Bones’ “Yeah Pretty Yeah.” The art on the insert illustrates the story to the songs. Between this and the preview of upcoming songs during the set, it is more reason to be excited for these guys.
The set itself was smorgasbord of a few things, old and new, and a couple guests. Painting Fences opened with Nick off the drums, doing more of the front man thing for a song. Seth took over the main microphone the rest of the set, with Nick singing some songs from the drums. They played their current songs and ended on their new album. Like mentioned above, there were some yet to be released tracks played in the middle of the set.
There were covers, including a guest singer, Jane ‘n the Jungle’s Jordan, singing “Zombie” from the Cranberries. Plus, that wasn’t the last guest. They brought in Jarrod Compton, of Comptalo, to be the Devil in the live performance of the new songs’ story. If there was anything I wanted in a release show, Painting Fences seemed to do it at least once during the night’s set. Be sure to check it out, or just go to their next show to grab it.
