SPILL LIVE REVIEW: DEATH VALLEY GIRLS w/ GYMSHORTS @ KUNG FU NECKTIE, PHILADELPHIA

Death Valley Girls w/ Gymshorts

@ Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia

October 30, 2018

Twas the night before Halloween and all through the house, people came dressed in costumes to see Gymshorts and Death Valley Girls play at the Kung Fu Necktie. I know it doesn’t rhyme, but that’s what happened. The air was electric with the energy of the upcoming Samhain holiday and you could feel this night was going to magical!

I’m a newbie when it comes to Gymshorts. I admit, I was lame and didn’t check them out before the show. While local band Britt Thomas and the Breaker Boys were on stage, I got a chance to chat with Sarah Greenwell who is the founding member. Their new album, “Knock Knock”, was released in August and their tour in support for it has just kicked off. The pure fun of their songs cannot be understated. They are in it for all the right reasons. It’s a blend of punk and hard rock with some Ween sensibilities. They stormed through their eleven-song set, featuring heavy on the new album. They were tight and focused but laughed and crashed into the audience. Doing what should be done at a venue like KFN; engaging the audience. Songs like “Copy Cat” and “Oh Brother” were chanted by the crowd and Sarah trekked into the crowd more than once. The pairing of these bands is perfect!

GYMSHORTS

Death Valley Girls took to the stage quickly asking for the bright white light to be killed, bathing them in a nice bloody red glow fit for a Devil’s Night performance. You see, Halloween is like Christmas to the Death Valley Girls. The excitement of it in them was palpable. Much banter was made of it (and Satan, who incidentally worships them) and since their new album, “Darkness Rains” has a theme of death running through it, it all made for the atmosphere of an amazing evening.

Holding down the fort on this tour for multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden and guitarist Larry Schemel are Pickle on bass and The Kid on drums. They are no stranger to DVG and rotate in and out regularly. The set kicked off with the first track of side two from Darkness Rains, “Abre Camino”. They are polished and tight with Larry giving some extra pyrotechnics in his delivery. “More Dead” was a definite crowd pleaser as was a killer version of “Sanitarium Blues” from their 2014 debut album, “Street Venom”. “Disco” was a fun number that had everyone shaking their booties, followed by Rains lead single “Disaster (Is What We’re After)”. They closed out with the 2015 single, “Electric High” inviting people up on stage to dance with them and making the Necktie clamour for more. Sadly, that was all.

A highly charged evening that went by too fast, if you have the chance to see this combo, please do! You will leave on a high from the energy in the room. They are infectious and fun. Try to say hi to them as well. They don’t bite and are the nicest people you will ever happen upon.

Gymshorts Set List

1 – Breathin
2 – Vibrator
3 – Copy Cat
4 – Good at Being Bad
5 – Bed(Stuy)
6 – Oh Brother
7 – Gotta Get Away
8 – You Blew It
9 – O Thanks Given
10 – Ding Dong Ditch
11 – Go Fish

Death Valley Girls Set List

1 – Abre Camino
2 – Street Justice
3 – More Dead
4 – Sanitarium Blues
5 – Death Valley Boogie
6 – Wear Black
7 – Disco
8 – Disaster (Is What We’re After)
9 – Electric High

(Photography by Michael Mitchell)

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