Images: Tsunami Bomb, Rayner, The Roxy Gunn Project, The Quitters February 27, 2016 at the Beauty Bar

Shortly after Steven and I finished our Stripped Down Session with Tsunami Bomb (coming soon!), I made it back to the Beauty Bar. To my surprise it was already packed in the bar area. As I pushed my way through the crowd, running into friends left and right, I could already tell this was going to be a gnarly show. The beer was flying out of the fridge from behind the bar, everyone seemed to be very excited and positive, and then the back door opened up.

The Quitters were up first, and having been around as long as they have, I’m surprised I had never caught a show of theirs before. They were definitely not what I was expecting. They have very unique sound bridging the gap between a punk rock feel and real musicianship. They closed out their set with a rad Prodigy cover, which went over very well with 15 year old me.

As more people piled in, The Roxy Gunn Project took the stage. As their set began it hit me very quickly that their bass player was Chris Reject, of the now-defunct Grocery Store Rejects. They had a very rock n roll sound with a bit of a punk edge to it. Each individual member of the band’s stage presence was a show of its own. As their set came to an end you could tell the crowd was getting more and more eager for Tsunami Bomb.

With the biggest crowd I had seen yet, my buddies in Rayner took the stage. A few of the guys in Rayner told me that, “I had better write them a good review,” so, needless to say, these guys were mediocre at best. All joking aside though, these fellows tear up every stage I’ve seen them on. They had the crowd jumping around, pitting, and singing along the whole time. Playing songs from their debut full length In Circles, they had this set down to a science. They even dedicated my favorite song “Second Son” to yours truly because they didn’t play it for me at their CD release show.

Finally we had reached the main attraction, Tsunami Bomb. This band has to be one of the raddest and most humble group of people I think I’ve ever met. Not only were they super fun to work with during the Stripped Down Session, (they showed me some old Red City Radio stuff I had never heard), but their live show is absolute insanity. I don’t think there was one moment of their entire set where there wasn’t a pit or someone singing along.

Dominic, their bass player, was jumping all over the place and screaming into the crowd. Oobliette and Kate were all over the stage and hanging out with the crowd getting everyone involved with the show. They tore up songs new and old, apparently even playing the first Tsunami Bomb song ever written for the packed Beauty Bar crowd.

I won’t lie, “Russian Roulette” ended up stuck in my head more than once that night. After their encore, the crowd dispersed but they got off stage and we’re hanging out with everyone who stayed behind to meet them. This show was one for the ages, and if you missed it, you missed out.

-Anthony Constantine | https://www.facebook.com/anthonycphotography