Local knob twiddler Christensen routinely opens shows of this nature. He uses laptop and effects pad to create industrial machine sounding backdrop and then layers guitar and wordless vocals. The music is oddly soothing, as if the listener is suspended over a factory floor.
Massachusetts instrumental psych rock quartet Weeping Bong Band have some interesting material on Spotify. Young woman in a thrift store dress and crocheted hat played flute and guitar, grizzled leather-clad rocker on bass, man-bunned hipster scratched at a banjo, and a big fella in a tattered Mr. Rogers sweater on mandolin and wooden flutes. The set started with a dueling flute passage, in came a bass vamp and some banjo scratching. The songs seemed quiet, like a movie soundtrack to a slow moving thriller. I was waiting for the group to unleash, but it never came. Perhaps the thriller ended peacefully, the villain was caught and there was no need for a climactic score.
Nathan Bowles played banjo in The Black Twig Pickers, a psychedelic take on Appalachian string music. On this night, he played with a drummer and standup bassist. Bowles percussive style was on display. The first tune, Nathan played an unusual lute-like instrument. He switched to banjo on which he strummed, picked, bowed, and bongoed. Song structure was good, and the capable rhythm section helped to deliver the tunes. Decent crowd and an annoying old woman taking flash photos from behind the band.
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