Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
On Wednesday, May 29, 2019, the tour featuring two bands from Los Angeles, Starcrawler and The Distillers, came to Brooklyn, NY for a sold out show at Brooklyn Steel.
Beginning their set promptly just before 8PM, Starcrawler performed songs from their 2018 self-titled record plus their cover of The Ramones’ “Pet Sematary” which was on the soundtrack of the film that was released in theaters last month. Starcrawler’s singer, Arrow de Wilde, continually moved around the stage throughout their set including dropping to the floor a few times. Guitarist Henri Cash also didn’t stand still very much, whirling his guitar around while playing to the people who braved the rainy weather to arrive early to the concert.
Walking on stage to “No Regrets” by Edith Piaf, The Distillers played New York City for the first time since 2004. The last time I saw the band perform before last night two years earlier in March 2002 at The Knitting Factory, who have since moved from that location on Leonard Street in Manhattan to Williamsburg in 2009. Launching into “Sick of it All,” the audience, made up of fans both young and old, sang along to every word sung by Brody Dalle. This version of the band features Tony Bevilacqua on guitar, bassist Ryan Sinn, and drummer Andy Granelli, which played a set comprising of songs from all of their releases to date. Dalle remarked that she wasn’t feeling well, she asked the crowd to tell her that she wasn’t sick. Having a room full of people shout that you apparently worked as before performing another song, she quipped “Who needs a doctor when you’ve got Brooklyn?”
The Distillers are currently touring ahead of releasing a new album for the first time since 2003’s Coral Fang. Their tour with Starcrawler heads to Washington, DC tonight, followed by Philadelphia, Carrboro, NC and will end on Saturday, June 4th in Nashville, TN, the headquarters of Third Man Records, the label that released The Distillers’ latest 7″, “Man Vs. Magnet” last September.
