Show Review: This HOLY Rodeo!, Party Girl, Rat Motel, Uncle Skunk at The Broadway.
May 24th, 2024
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A blissful start to Memorial Day weekend
May 25th, 2024
Brooklyn’s The Broadway is a shotgun shack, a straight line of a bar where you can enter one end as one person and exit out the other end transformed. Or go upstairs to the show room to experience transformative music, which is what we did last night. This HOLY Rodeo!, Party Girl, Rat Motel, and Uncle Skunk turned out a crowd for a raucous night of sound and solidarity, with the presence of Merch 4 Change raising money for Palestinian aid. This is what we saw.
We climbed upstairs into the middle of This HOLY Rodeo!’s set, into the middle of some kind of semi-holy testament. Frontman was delivering a light speed monologue that felt like a sped up narration of a doom scrolling session. This immediately transitioned into the grooviest jam with the cleanest tele tone we’ve ever heard. Both guitarists swung matching Telecasters, plain wood finish with black pick guards. Slick. They ping-ponged between all different types of sounds. Staccato and light one moment, dense and stomping the next. We kicked ourselves for missing the first half.
Party Girl brought the party, a party of sound and spirit. Imagine lead guitar, violin, and saxophone all playing lead lines at once while their frontwoman belted into the stratosphere. The crowd had house party energy. Their set was like a giant house party where each song was a different room in the house. One song was the living room, booming and bouncing. One song was the cramped kitchen, swaying and swooning, up close and personal with the crush you want to kiss. One song was the back deck, breezy and open. Every member of this eclectic six piece could stand on their own musically, each having a notable solo. Be on the lookout for a new album dropping soon and be ready to party, girl.
Merch 4 Change was present, selling mystery merch packs with money raised going towards Palestinian aid. It’s a great concept all around, any band or artist can contribute their wares. M4C then mixes it all up, wraps it discreetly, and offers it for sale. It’s new music discovery, the analog way. And it's a fantastic exercise in solidarity and proof of the power of community, showing how the arts can take their individual talents and combine them to do something greater.
Rat Motel came all the way from Columbus, Ohio, to put on a blistering show. The bravery of a rock duo is unmatched. It’s almost elemental in the stripped back simplicity of it. Guitar, drums, and a microphone. A self imposed challenge to do the most out of less. And do the most, they did. Their frontman sang from a deep, guttural, gritty place, switching to a clean tenor when he wanted to. It was honest and galloping Rock and Roll with moments of soulful swing, the real thing.
Rat imagery was all over the place. Rat Motel had incredible merch artwork, a sticker of a dead rat was plastered in the bathroom, and we spotted a live one scampering around outside the venue. It can be a tough life out there for a rat, though. For the most part we’re considered vermin, a problem to eradicate. Most don’t get close. But as rats we’re not that far from people physiologically. We have hands, feet, fingers, toes, and know how to love and give just as well. And we do. But what do we get back? Why do we get the cold shoulder so often? Few make time for rrrat kind, and that’s just life. Anyway, Rat Motel’s merch is sick, buy it here.
Uncle Skunk closed out the show and by the time of their set it had certainly become a stinky good time. The frontman of this jamming five piece rocked a worn out acoustic guitar, giving the whole performance a busker fever dream type of energy. Like one of those chaotic dreams that eventually jolts you awake drenched in sweat. The click-clack of that acoustic strumming over thick snake baselines, spaced out guitar, a heavy beat, and muffled vocals gave us the stank face, the good one. It all ended in its rightful place, with a deafening de-evolution of noise.
You weren't here? You fucked up for missing this. But not as much as whoever was at the bar downstairs but never came upstairs for the show. Lucky for you summer is coming down the tracks and these bands are in prime form to put on some more great shows. So connect with them on social media below to be there!
| Keywords: | The Broadway | This HOLY Rodeo! | Partygirl | Rat Motel | Uncle Skunk | Merch 4 Change | New York City |
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