Last Wednesday’s free bi-weekly Radio Rubber Room Presents! show rocked the roofs of The Camel thanks to 4 diverse sets ranging from a wonky display of animal funk, to classic punk power trios, and to what could have been Paramore if you squinted hard enough.
Last Wednesday’s free bi-weekly Radio Rubber Room Presents! show rocked the roofs of The Camel thanks to 4 diverse sets ranging from a wonky display of animal funk, to classic punk power trios, and to what could have been Paramore if you squinted hard enough.
The opening band was RVA-based President Sam, featuring some nice warm-up pop rock dance beats and an enthusiastic leading female vocalist. Though it felt a little bit like a high school battle of the bands, it’s hard not to go along with the vibe of youthful idealism while watching these kids bang ‘em out. If you’re a sucker for puppy love, then these guys could be up your alley.
President Sam topped off their originals with a Killers cover which is a smart move considering there’s maybe only two people on the planet who don’t mess with Mr. Brightside.
Next came Sleave, the guitar-crunching three-piece celebrating the release of their Gold EP. The trio blended their set with new badass tunes next to their now-retired songs from their formative years, making for a diversely melodic, but formative punk style. Even though they had sweet banter interspersed throughout the hour, they had a vicious streak that was only punctuated by the fact that every time their drummer Julien Robert hit the crash symbol, you could see tiny woodchips flying off in the spotlight like a bulldozed forest.
Dancers in the crowd barely had time to rest before their faces were melted off by yet another power alternative three-piece: Josie McQueen.
Their songs were basically as cool as their band name (which is to say a lot). Their sound was too diverse to fit under one genre umbrella, however their guitarist, Jesse Weygandt, has blues licks that could have shot down Gary Clark Jr. and dance moves that were not unlike Marty McFly grooving to “Jonny Be Good” in Back To The Future. His sweat was absolutely showering his guitar, but the shredding was worthy of summoning Lucifer (or at the very least, Lucifer’s cousin? Maybe a minor satanic deity – I’m not picky).
The band is also relishing in a recently released EP titled The Man Is A Thief (available on Josie McQueen’s website) as well as their first professional music video for their latest single “Say What You Will” (Produced by Vertical Sandbox Productions here in RVA). You can catch them playing with Sleave and Baby Baby on November 9th at the Camel.
To top off the night came Seawhorse.
I’ve noticed that a lot of Radio Rubber Room’s shows save the best for last – this is not to say that the opening three bands were not phenomenal, but maybe I was just pleasantly surprised to see three dudes in horse masks (and a drumming goldfish) as a finale.
I once paid forty dollars to see Arcade Fire at the Verizon Center and their goofy shenanigans weren’t nearly as goofy as these guys.
The endothermic surf rock group’s leading man sported a baritone saxophone and a keyboard along with his equestrian attire. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy awkwardly nuzzling his pony pals during the songs (much to their dismay, although it’s hard to tell a horse’s mood when it’s made of rubber). From what I heard, all of the songs were instrumental with sampled movie dialogue sprinkled in between songs instead of basic rock and roll anecdotes like “How’re we doing tonight, Richmond!” or “Thanks so much we’re the etc. etc.”.
The funkadelic farm dudes will be playing A Cosmonaut Collaboration at The Camel on October 24th with Cold Beaches, The Cyrenaics, and more.
When 2 am rolled around, there was still a good-sized crowd bopping about in the spotlights with PBRs in hand – if you weren’t among them, sucks to be you. The RRR crew always guarantees a fun night.
