Graveyard
Bowery Ballroom
Manhattan, NY
February 08, 2016

At SummerStage 2015 I was lucky enough to see a band open for Clutch and Mastodon that pretty much blew everyone in attendance away. They were humble and straight up playing rock and roll without gimmicks and fancy shit; their name was Graveyard and most people in the crowd couldn’t help but feel impressed by the end of their set.

Fast forward a year later and the boys were back in NYC, this time with a new album, the excellent Innocence & Decadence, which has been causing a bit of a buzz among rock & roll lovers. This album, which is one the finest efforts from 2015, easily brings you back to the 70s decade musically speaking (or in different ways as well, depending on how psychedelically influenced you are while listening to it).

Their first stop in NYC was postponed due to the snow storm that ended up stopping public transportation, and most likely giving the band a terrible image of Americans and their low tolerance for snow (but let’s be honest, fuck snow and traveling while it’s happening). Thankfully the show was not canceled, and was moved to a week later at the same venue, the Bowery Ballroom.

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Spiders

Opening for Graveyard was a very fun band called Spiders. Spiders is another Swedish hard rock band that keeps that 70s rock & roll vibe alive, not only with their music but also with their looks on stage. Lots of songs from their recent (and killer) album Shake Electric were played. While I didn’t know many of these songs before or during the show, it can’t be denied that these guys were great and fun to watch live. Tight leather pants, cowboy like boots, flower power like make up, among other things set up the mood for their set. The band is definitely worth a listen, and luckily they are on Spotify for everybody to explore.

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Graveyard

After Spider’s set and a little wait, Graveyard entered the stage and went straight down to business playing No Good, Mr. Holden right away. The setlist consisted of a very mixed list of songs from most of their repertoire, though not many from their first LP. It made for a fun show, especially for those familiar with their catalog previous to their latest album. A bunch of the songs were played at a different pace from studio recording, either to shake things up a bit or to fuck around with people, resulting in a very unique experience. Among the highlights of the show were “An Industry of Murder”, “Hinsingen Blues”, the lovely “Uncomfortably Numb”, and the whole encore which consisted of “Stay for a Song” (a song I’d happily make out with if it had a physical form), their newest single “The Apple & The Tree”, “Ain’t Fit to Live Here”, and fan favorite “The Siren”, which closed the show and made everyone want more in the process.

Needless to say it was a great experience, and the merchandise was also pretty lovely. Some of their t-shirt designs were among the best merchandise I’ve seen at rock shows, which didn’t make it easy on my wallet. Unfortunately, I was sick as hell so I couldn’t make it to their Brooklyn show two days later, which I’m pretty sure was killer as well. Hopefully they will visit us again soon.