Images: Waxahatchee, Dogbreth, Mercy Music and more April 19, 2014 at the Eagle Aerie Hall

Living just a few miles outside the Coachella non-compete zone definitely has its advantages. Bands ranging from The Cure to Japandroids to the Postal Service have had gigs in our city during the festival’s two weekend gap in April. This year, the Coachella offshoot I was most looking forward to was the intimate headlining gig from Waxahachee – the indie rock outlet founded by former P.S. Eliot frontwoman Katie Crutchfield – at the Eagle Hall. Going in, I expected the show to be a little more like an event, what with Waxahachee being that rare type of crossover band that pleases readers of PunkNews just as much as the Pitchfork set but people’s time was split between the who’s who of punk rock that made up SquidHat’s first annual Punk Rock Skate Fest, a gallery showing at the Artistic Armory, local hardcore outfit In Fugue’s EP release show, and it was Easter Eve, so maybe you were busy setting traps to capture the enigmatic Easter Bunny in order to live out your Usagi Yojimbo fantasies. But those of us that made the Elijah Wood-in-North-style trek to The Eagle Hall were treated to one of today’s most acclaimed bands in a nice, small venue.

I arrived just in time to check out the first of five openers, local folk artist Alexander the Terrible. Unlike a lot of Mr. The Terrible’s peers, Alexander seems to draw inspiration from the folk music of many years gone by, coming off more like a freewheelin’, time displaced version of Bob Dylan then modern troubadours like Chuck Ragan or Tim Barry. His finger-picking and foot stomping got the sparse crowd of friends clapping and dancing along. Alexander has an energetic presence that makes his set compelling to watch even for those of us that didn’t yet know his music, and I like that he was brave enough to put himself out there by ending the set with a slam poem about growing up.

One acoustic musician was replaced with four for the next set, courtesy of Vegas Psychedelic/folk outfit Ossum Possum (“spelled just the way it sounds” as the frontman proclaimed). I haven’t heard much of OP, and I was particularly surprised to hear how close in timbre their frontman’s voice sounds to ex-Holding Onto Sound frontman Bennett Mains (maybe he bought it from Mains ala Ursula in The Little Mermaid?). Finding themselves without a drummer (but still looking!) the group played an acoustic mix of originals and a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend Of The Devil” that, despite my strong anti-Dead bias, still found my will breaking down to allow a few taps of my toes. Make no mistake, the band sounded very rough (possibly due to the lack of a drummer to anchor their sound) but they kept it short, catchy and a little silly and I’m expecting better things from them in the future.

The night rolled on at a brisk pace with The Voice Unheard taking the stage just a few minutes after OP wrapped up. They were the third set of locals on the night’s bill and they brought out a wealth of friends and family members to celebrate their drummer’s birthday, which meant my second show in as many weeks where the birthday song was played live. I’m always stoked in this EDM-heavy world to see young people start up bands, but these guys just weren’t my style at all, playing that sort of brooding, atmospherically moody alt rock that’s reminiscent of Evanescence and Flyleaf.

Technical difficulties following The Voice Unheard’s set meant that much of the crowd used this time to go out for a Frosty and cookie break, but people slowly started trickling back in once they heard Mercy Music frontman Brendan Scholz’s signature shredding kick in. I expounded on Mercy Music’s sound in my last review a week ago, so I’m just going to take a minute to stress how much I think they would benefit from playing more all-ages shows. While this particular all-ages show mostly skewed older, I feel like the Green Day-meets-Ted Leo and the Pharmacists-meets the Shredder shredding on his guitar while grinding down ten flights of stairs style that Brendan, Jarred and Michael bring to Mercy Music cries out to be heard by everyone, not just us over 21ers. The trio has a knack for writing songs that instantly worm their way into the listener’s ears and attendees young and slightly less young were jumping around to the beat by the time the trio closed things out with the peppy, full band version of “Fine.”

In direct support was the only other touring band of the night, Arizona–based Dogbreth, whose brand of lo-fi, indie infused pop punk recalls the likes of Lemuria and Cheap Girls. The first thought that comes to mind for Dogbreath is that they are FUN. Their lively set had the most dancing out of any band of the night, with a group of dedicated fans that included show opener Alexander the Terrible jumping and jiving like it was a 90s Gap commercial, all the while belting out lyrics with wreckless abandon. This was my first time hearing them and I loved how earnest and catchy they were, and since they played a new song as well as what the band said was one of their oldest tracks – “Autopilot” – I was able to get a quick crash course on what they have to offer. Hopefully they come back through soon because I’ll be first in line.

With the Eagle Hall still painfully bare in attendees, Waxahatchee  came out and quietly launched into “Under a Rock.” The band played with a type of sophisticated confidence that made even the folks who came only for their friends’ bands squeeze up front to check things out. Their all-too-short setlist focused heavily on their critically-acclaimed sophomore album Cerulean Salt, including “Coast to Coast,” which recalls the poppiest moments of Weezer’s self-titled debut and “Swan Dive,” a beautiful and haunting tale of love’s end. Debut LP American Weekend was represented as well, with “Grass Stain” and “Be Good” transformed from with the full band from delicate, solo pieces into a moody, grunge influence anthems that would easily win over fans of Daylight and Citizen.

There has been a lot of chatter online about people being disrespectful during Waxahatchee sets, talking over the band instead of just enjoying the music. Luckily for us the only voice heard at Eagle Hall was Crutchfield’s, with some exceptions made when fans sang along to tracks like “Peace and Quiet” and “Lips and Limbs.” The band may have just played a festival that boasts 75,000 in tickets sold but they still seem to feel right at home in a small, all ages music hall and I’m glad I had the opportunity to see them in a tiny venue because with the momentum and talent behind the band they probably won’t be playing shows this small much longer.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Hunter Wallace | https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter_wallace/