Real World

The first show of the Class of 2019 band series took place on Saturday at The Monarch Tavern. The local bands who played tonight didn't need a fancy sound system given their garage band vibes. Nevertheless, the muddy mix made everybody sounded bad.

This series is supposed to highlight "ones-to-watch" bands. I assumed that, at the very least, these were "seniors" about to graduate (i.e., on the cusp of some success). But maybe the promoter Dan Burke also wanted to include fresh-faced froshes, too. Because with only 1 year together, Weak Hands didn't have a lot of original material and still needed to find a cohesive sound.

I saw The Effens cover CCR last year. Now they were back in their grungy elements. But I couldn't tell with the bad sound. Nikki Fierce had different problems: mostly a flickering bass due to a faulty tuner pedal. Once that was fixed, I enjoyed their feminist psychedelic rock set. But it didn't fit with the previous vibe. By this time, the tiny venue was in full swing as the crowd finally made it out. But late-nights aren't for these old bones anymore so I headed home and leave Orville Peck and Gloin for the youngsters.