If anyone thinks that rock ‘n roll is dead, they clearly were not at the Yawpers and Devil Met Contention concert at Club Garibaldi.
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| photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch |
Milwaukee’s Devil Met Contention, and Denver’s The Yawpers made for a dynamic pairing at a packed Club Garibaldi for two ruckus sets of pure rock ‘n roll goodness. While both bands have very different performance and sonic qualities, they both draw from a myriad of influences and genres to create rock ‘n roll that is fresh, pure, innovative and profoundly satisfying.
Up first was Devil Met Contention. The last time we saw Devil Met Contention was at the Rock the Green Sustainability Festival this past September, where the band, donned in matching suits, delivered one of the best sets of the festival, focusing on tunes with a more western bluesy sound. After months of working on new material, Devil Met Contention took the stage at Club Garibaldi’s to an adoring crowd with confidence and swagger and put on a full-throttle rock performance. The suits were gone, and the band added a greater guitar attack from lead guitarist David Schuyler whose interplay with front man Ehson Rad and bassist Max Nemer was notable from the start of the set. When catching up with Ehson Rad, he stated that "Devil Met Contention are sprinting towards a new direction. Everything from songwriting to performance and genre will be changing for us. There is just so much more out there to explore than broody, western Americana that we've written in the past. This year, I want the raw power of a sci-fi guitar cutting through the beat of 70s and 80s dance music. It's exciting to write without the limitations of a genre." While Devil Met Contention may be exploring new sonic landscapes, Ehson Rad is and remains a master of narrative story telling and new tracks including the stand out set closer “Take A Chance,” held true to this quality while being performed with a more power-rock sound. "Take A Chance" is the new single recorded at Wire and Vice Studios here in Milwaukee and slated to be released in April. In addition, 2016’s Fuel the Lights stand out track, “Used To Be,” which has always had a distinctive western feel, was re-imagined into a driving rock number, which fit in well with their other new material debuted.
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| photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch |
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| photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch |
Next up were the Denver trio, The Yawpers. The Yawpers have a truly uniquely addictive sonic quality that blends together elements of punk, country, swampy blues, and just plain balls-to-the-wall ruckus rock ‘n roll. The band, consisting of Nate Cook on vocals and guitar, slide guitarist Jesse Parmet and drummer Noah Shomberg bring their vast catalogue of tunes to life on stage with reckless abandon. Touring in support of 2017’s A Boy in a Well, a sensationalized concept record set in World War I France, The Yawpers wasted little time bringing the rock ‘n roll energy. After a chilling rendition of “The Awe and the Anguish” (off of A Boy in a Well) to start off the show, Cook and company went into full-tilt rock mode with “Mon Nom,” and “Silicone Love,” (off of 2012’s Capon Crusade). The vast variety of sonic landscapes The Yawpers cover is impressive by any standards. On foot stomping rockers or more semi-slowed down cuts Parmet’s virtuoso slide guitar riffs serves as the glue that binds together The Yawpers’ distinctive sound. As front men go, few are more expressive than Nate Cook. During the band’s riveting hour long set, Cook danced, sang, screamed, wailed, shredded his guitar and dropped to his knees. The highlight of the show in terms of music and performance was a hard hitting take of “Armistace Day,” the opening track of A Boy in a Well which featured strong harmonies from the three band members to go along with the wall of rock sound.
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| photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch |
