Jim Roth, The Brett Netson Band and The Mothers Anger at Darrell's 3-2-12

It was about midnight and I looked over at Scott sitting at the sound board. He had this huge smile; bopping his head and tapping both hands on his board. He was pleased with tonight's recipe; he was the chef and the results were amazing.

The Mother's Anger was blasting it's brand of psychedelic punk with incredible energy. I was just floored from the first licks; this was two guys making a sound like a freaking freight train. A phenomenal drummer who was killing the set; just a blur, and a master guitarist (also a blur) who filled-in every detail you needed to hear, it made for quite the experience.

The first song was just amazing, 15 minutes of very high energy punk. It started as a drum only solo; in what seemed like an American Indian rhythm, Joseph was using his mallets to hit the Tom Tom's in a tribal beat. David came in with his guitar and vocals in a high Native American tribal vocal. Slowly it morphed into a more Middle Eastern sound and damn this was the shit. I was lost in this original and creative song, these two guys sounding like four.

When they finally came up for air there was a group of us up front that were absolutely stammered; speaking in tongues, frothing at the mouth, they appreciated the fact that they had made an impression. Oh yeah, David and Joseph left me shaking; it was alarming and wonderful.

But I am getting ahead of myself, more on this amazing band later.

My Friday night buddy and I arrived at Molly World (inside joke, to protect the identity of the innocent this page will not elaborate) at about 9:15. The music normally starts at 9:30 and there is usually room at the bar; not tonight. The place was jammin', regulars filled the back of the bar, an eclectic crowd of leather, punk and grunge around the pool tables and sitting waiting for the first act out front.

I am a huge fan of Darrell's, my front room on weekend nights nowadays. I am really glad to see the place packed. Yeah it meant that I had to keep my fat ass standing for an hour while we waited for a seat at the bar...small price. If they are crowded they make money and get a great reputation for good music. They have more bands, I couldn't say better bands as they already have great music but you get my point. If you are reading this and haven't been to Darrell's you are really missing a great experience.

Jim Roth was the first act playing solo acoustic and vocals. He was in Built to Spill and The Delusions and is a talented singer/songwriter/guitar player. Playing his original tunes he commanded the attention of the bar; many of the folks were there especially to see him and Brett.

He played some great stuff; strong vocals and excellent guitar. He was wetting our whistle for things to come, warming us up. He was also warming up himself. As it turns out he was in the next band.

After short break The Brett Netson Band came on stage. I had caught the final tune of their last visit to Darrell's. I was blown away at the wall of sound he and his cohorts made. I was impressed enough to make sure if he ever showed again I would come.

Here he was with Jim on rhythm/co-lead guitar, and two other extremely talented musicians. Ian Waters was on bass and Stephen Gere was on drums.

One of the reasons I like Brett and his fellow musicians is that they all have such a major individual impact on the sound. Yes, Brett is the main man, lead guitar and the only vocals but he chose the right guys to play with. Jim's electric guitar work is phenomenal complementing Brett's incredible sound. The bass player is not content to play the usual role and neither is the percussionist/keyboard guy. They both have a unique talent that adds to this amazing sound.

They played songs (I use the word loosely) that moved from freaking hard rock to psychedelic and back with a fluid energy that was killing me. I couldn't understand a thing he was saying but I am old and truly not sure he wanted me to understand. A lot of times I just imagine to vocals to be another instrument; I don't need to understand the words to enjoy the tune.

Later as I was leaving I said to the sometimes drummer-sometimes keyboard player that I loved his stuff especially when it got psychedelic...he said "I don't remember playing any of that". We all have our definitions based on our experience. In these guys I heard The Stones from Beggars Banquet, Ozzy and Black Sabbath, Mountain, Led Zeppelin, and a myriad of other great bands. I saw Ozzy in '72, Brett was channeling Ozzy in the last tune. Freaking great!

I loved Brett's music; I am going to look for some of his stuff from Built to Spill and The Delusions for more of his brand of sound. Here is a link to one of his related sites: http://thisisthenewblack.com/brettnetson.html

The Mother's Anger was on next. I describe their first 15 minutes on stage above; absolutely smashing. I did a little research between the top of the page and here. They are a band formed in Israel and have been around for 5 or 6 years. They play psychedelic punk; dreamlike at times, an acid trip in the making. Other times it is screaming and headed to bust your balls.

I was up and rocking during their whole show. I don't think there was a person in the house that wasn't totally immersed in this experience. The Mother's Anger was the perfect ending to a great night of music. You can find information on them here:http://mothersanger.com/fr_welcome.cfm

Scott did a great job on the band mix tonight; both these bands hit me on many levels; musically, emotionally but especially physically. This was a workout, I was biffed as I drug my butt home. A happy buzz in my head, I laid down to get some rest...Death Polka is playing tonight at Darrell's. Yikes!