Graveyard - Radio Moscow - Black Cowgirl -- DC9 - Jan 16 2012

Black Cowgirl - Slow and steady comes this psychedelic blues rock from a twin guitar four-piece. This is from the family tree set up by Blue Cheer and the Groundhogs in those psychedelic sixties. The band has the requisite acid-drenched long haired look which would be a common theme tonight. They also had the sound down nicely with good thick loud guitars. The vocals were only a bit more restrained but fit in well enough. There was almost a playfulness in the songs with the more positive elements of the sixties present. The 33 minute set picked up momentum nicely and I enjoyed the guitarists trading leads and doubling up the leads during the last jammer. They may have been a late addition to the bill, but they were certainly a welcome one for this large crowd.


Radio Moscow - The club is now jam packed with denizens of the heavy rock genre (an odd mix of long hairs and short hairs and the rare in-between cut like mine). It has a nice feel to it in spite of the sardine conditions as I stake out some breathing room behind the sound board. This time around it is a similar sound as before but done by a trio. The guitarist sings in an interesting manner that reminds me of some sort of Leslie West-Brian Johnson hybrid singing through a few layers of flannel shirts. The songs seem pretty much by the numbers, although the guitar work is sharp, fast, and fluid. It gets the crowd going although the rhythm section appears more tentative to me. Ahh, the guitarist explains that these guys have been with him for about six days and 22 hours more than Chuck Berry's usual back-up band was with Berry. The guitar work continues to go over well with the crowd, but I felt they were losing a bit of momentum well before the technical problem that silenced them for several minutes late in the set. Good, but I am sure they can do a lot better.

Graveyard - The theme continues as this four-piece continues the psychedelic blues based heavy jamming theme of the evening. It does not take more than a few bars to see that these guys really have it down as the hypnotic groove established shows a full band skill that they have probably perfected over a long time. They pull it back some with some great dynamics that remind me of Opeth in a related genre. They then introduce themselves from Sweden and for the record, I wrote the Opeth note prior to hearing this. But I had read they were from Sweden a month ago, so it may have been lurking in my subconscious. Or maybe it was their look, their voices or whatever as it does not matter other than offering further unneeded proof of how music 'scenes' work out so very well. This band really establishes great tension and expectation with their songs. They have this psyche sound down in an original manner and in a different form than that of the Hellacopters. There is such a distance in their sound that rolls up from the horizon and bursts ahead with vocals keeping it personal. I am quite impressed as is the rest of this packed house. I hope to see them again next year and it almost certainly will be at a larger venue.

Quote of the Night: From the crowd when the Radio Moscow guitarist had some sound problems...
"Awkward Silence. Play Awkward Silence!!"