Friends Coming Together
Birthday shows tend to be a more common occurrence as I meet more within our music scene. They bring out the friends and musicians. Some I don’t get the pleasure to see as often as I would like. In the case of tonight, I got to catch someone who I have missed play for a while, someone I had not seen before, and a bunch of regular bands I love to see live.
Opening up the night was the birthday girl herself, Cecilia. Playing with her friend on guitar, the pair took over as an unfortunate conflict kept our original opener from being there. This made for my first time seeing her outside of the bands she plays in. It was a soothing and comforting opening to the night.
Following was the second acoustic act of the night, Colten Hood. Watching his set was another first for me on this night. It was a great voice with a solid set of songs. There was an alternative leaning in his songs making for a solid set.
Then I was catching Jesse Val for the first time in a long while. I’ve seen him play in Cartoon Lion, and later as Delta Val. This occasion was his becoming more frequent solo performance. He is an amazing voice no matter how I see him sing. He is one of the nicest people you will come across in the music scene too. It was superb catching Jesse Val play live again.
Almost like some weird throwback to the Cartoon Lion days, we had Ethan 103 follow. We had Wayne face painted up for his usual show attire. Energy was across the stage for all four members. They channel that into jumping in place or a climb and jump from the occasional amp. Ethan 103 brought the celebratory energy for a birthday show.
Now that we were in the band portion of the night, the rockers of Painting Fences were up next. No slacking on the personality front, as this band exudes personality when they perform. Expressions fun to catch as they play. With a style of rock reminiscent of a few hair metal bands, they put on an excellent set. Painting Fences knew how to celebrate the night.
It would have to be Bloody Rogue Bastards headlining this birthday show. It is the band that I first saw Cecilia play in. This is a high energy blend of Celtic punk, bluegrass, and rockabilly. There are more influences in there that I just haven’t pegged down. Lars leading on vocals and one of the most expressive accordion players made it feel like a party. It was a fantastic night way to celebrate Cecilia’s birthday.
