When an intensely, pondering poet, draped in a broken-in hollow body guitar and spewing red and raw vocals, as if choking on the sun-baked mud and dust of his subject matter, teams up with a hold no cheap shots (at least behind the kit) kind of drummer
himself awash in sweat, fighting off the rush of blood from his own battered fingers
the live result can only be something that tip toes on the overwhelming. Such is the case with
Adam Stephens and
Tyson Vogel.
Though the two childhood friends hail from San Francisco,
Two Gallants performance on Tuesday at the
Blender Theater at the Gramercy would have one believe they were bred on an utterly authentic, rural ruggedness. I suppose its due to the way their agrarian blend of folk, blues, country, rock, and punk conjure up apocalyptic dust bowl images
think
The Grapes of Wrath if you have to. And if you dont rely on such a picture, just know that such intense, tom tom driven folk thrash can set Midwestern hay bails ablaze all the way from New York City. -
David Pitz
Stay tuned to Baeble Music in the coming weeks for exclusive, live footage from the Two Gallants show at the Blender Theater.
Catch Two Gallants as they continue to tour in support of their recently released, self-titled album.
Two Gallants on Tour:
10.05 - Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs
10.06 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
10.07 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
10.08 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
10.09 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
10.10 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
10.11 - Hattiesburg - Mohawk
10.15 - Tucson, AZ - Zia Records (Oracle)
10.15 - Tucson, AZ - Plush
10.17 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah
10.18 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
10.26 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
10.27 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Photos: Two Gallants:: Live at the Blender Theater at the Gramercy NY, NY
MP3: Two Gallants:: The Hand That Held Me Down from Two Gallants
MP3: Two Gallants:: Despite What You've Been Told from Two Gallants
Two Gallants on MySpace
- Photography by
Maureen Pitz