Provo’s Velour Live Music Gallery was invaded by three bands on Dec. 13, The Djinn, Fired Pilots and Queenadilla. These bands brought with them an incredible wall of sound, each band louder than the last. The evening was full of energy, adrenaline, thumping basses, wailing guitars, booming vocals and questions about how the drums survived their abuse.
The night started with The Djinn, a psychedelic rock band in the vein of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. Though there was absolutely nothing toned down about The Djinn’s energy on-stage – it was incredible. They started their set with an instrumental to warm up the eagerly awaiting crowd. They revved up the crowd with a song that singer Noah Garcia, clad in bellbottoms and a gold and black floral lattice patterned jacket, informed the audience was either about love or a nuclear bomb, he wasn’t entirely sure.
This was the first glimpse into the excellent stage presence Garcia displayed. When he wasn’t singing he was all over the stage, and at one point off the stage, bringing the music to the audience, hair flying everywhere, looking like a man possessed. After the show Garcia, had some words about the venue and the bands that would follow The Djinn, “I love this place very much. It’s a beautiful gem in Utah. God bless Queenadilla and Fired Pilots.”
Following The Djinn was Fired Pilots, a four piece alt-rock band. Vocalist Jaxon Keller, not as outlandishly dressed as Garcia from The Djinn, had captivating stage presence. He was subdued, calm and confident. He knew what he was doing, why he was there and at least as far as the audience could tell, knew his stuff was good. It is an incredible experience to see someone look so comfortable on a stage. The music was excellent, Fired Pilots felt like a throwback to the 90’s alt rock scene, bands like the Ugly Kid Joe and Faith No More came to mind.
Closing out the night were Queenadilla. There is nothing that sounds like Queenadilla so there is no comparison that can be given to the reader to gage potential interest. At least one person on the stage during the show had reason to celebrate, bassist Andrew McCord said after the show, “I finished finals today, there’s nothing quite like a show to put the cherry on top.”
Andrew McCord of Queenadilla celebrating the end of finals with a performance at the Velour.
The joy could be seen in McCord’s letting loose on stage. Not to be outdone on showmanship, frontman Chase McKnight kept the crowd constantly engaged between songs, telling everyone about changes in songs in their catalogue, McKnight’s claimed attempts to make things harder on lead guitarist Nick Mayberry. McKnight was moving and grooving. At one point, McKnight almost tried to start a mosh pit, an impressive feat for a man actively playing guitar for the band on stage. This is in massive contrast to drummer Stacie Fleischer, who despite some of the heaviest, most insane drumming, makes everything she’s doing look easy. Queenadilla’s bluesy, heavy, high octane rock show never disappoints.
Photographer, Staff Writer [/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
