REVIEW: Piebald Soundtracks a Nostalgic Evening at Lark Hall
12/10 @ Lark Hall, Albany
All photos by Violet Foulk
“What I’ve always loved about this band is their sense of humor and humility. They are seriously talented musicians who don’t take themselves too seriously and are always grateful for the opportunity to perform music.”
On Wednesday, December 10, DIVE Presents brought Piebald to headline a nostalgic evening at Lark Hall with support from The Worst, Aficionado and Take Steps. The following is a stream of consciousness retelling of the evening’s events.
Two nights in a row at Lark Hall. While I expect tonight to be far tamer than Drug Church last night, I’m still very Roger Murtagh about it (“I’m too old for this shit”- get it?).
I’m attending the show with two friends who, while we talk professionally all the time, I haven’t actually hung out with in at least a year. You know how that goes? Like, you check in all the time about projects you’re working on and your paths cross but you don’t have time to really throw a couple beers back and chop it up? That’s what this evening is going to be. We’re going to have fun.
Take Steps is taking the stage and this band is a bunch of children. I mean, they’re probably in the 18-21 range, but once you’re middle aged, everyone under 25 is a fucking child, you know? The most tell-tale sign is the lead guitarist’s axe. He’s playing a lime green Jackson and while it’s a wonderful guitar that sounds great, I’ve never seen an adult musician ripping one of those on stage.
The band sounds great, although I detect a hint of frustration from the singer about the crowd’s lack of participation. Not to get all ‘old man giving advice’ right now, but like, you have the chance to open for Piebald who are certified legends. Be grateful, dude.
Aficionado, all seven of them, take the stage next and the nostalgia fest has begun. This is probably a little too “Inside Baseball,” but there was a time in the late 2000s where the “Aficionado House” was a thing. It was on Partridge Street and if you were in the scene back then, you definitely ended up partying there at least once or twice.
They tell a humorous but slightly harrowing tale of getting a gun pulled on them while on tour with Piebald some 15 years prior.
Point of these anecdotes being, I love that these guys, now many years on from their heyday, are still dusting off the ol’ instruments and rocking the fuck out simply for the love of the game. It’s inspiring and I’ve got a lot of time for that.
The Worst, from Portland, ME take the stage next and the main take away here is, “how have I never heard of this fucking band?” The trio absolutely rips through their set. The lead singer and guitarist has a lot of Brody Dalle to her vocal stylings and the bassist is both an incredible player and having a wail of a time up there. I absolutely love this set and will definitely be adding them to the rotation.
Piebald is taking the stage next and before they do, let’s talk about the Boston-based legends for a moment. The first show I ever went to in 2002, Piebald was on the bill (read more about that here). What I’ve always loved about this band is their sense of humor and humility. They are seriously talented musicians who don’t take themselves too seriously and are always grateful for the opportunity to perform music.
For example:
Their sophomore record is entitled If It Weren’t For Venetian It Would Be Curtains for Us All. That’s a hall of fame level album title.
Their song “The Monkey Versus The Robot” from We Are The Only Friends That We Have. “We have the best job ever. Yeah, we really got lucky. We’re nobody’s robot, we’re nobody’s monkey.”
There are many more but you get the point. Plus, they’re about to take the stage so let’s shift the focus back to that.
Piebald kicks things off with the aforementioned “The Monkey Versus The Robot” and through the thick, grizzly beard and Jesus hair, you can see Travis Shettel’s massive smile, super humble and having the time of his life up there.
Interestingly enough, Piebald got their start as a hardcore band and you can still hear those roots in the off-time arrangements and harmonized guitar shredding (“American Hearts”). Even now, 20 plus years on, they’re still as locked in as ever. They don’t put a foot wrong.
Half way through the set, they break out a new song entitled “Still On the Couch” and “yooooooo, they still got it.”
Now we're getting “(All I Want For Christmas) Is To Rage With My Friends” and a gentleman named Gage is dressed up as Santa and stagediving. Gage also found my earplug that I dropped so he’s a legend in multiple ways.
We’re nearing the end of the set which means we’re also nearing the end of this review so let’s wrap this thing up.
While the show was not super well attended (probably half capacity), every single person there was in love. In love with Piebald and in love with each other. Throughout the show, I kept noticing folks meeting up and sharing warm embraces. I see people in groups of threes and fours, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, swaying back and forth as they shout the refrain:
“Long nights, hard times, everything that makes you feel tired. That’s why I gotta get away from you.”
The numbers might be small, but the noise is deafening.
