Concert Review: 19 Wheels CD Release @ Magic Bag
Ahhh, joy of joys … I arrived at the Magic Bag just in time to almost completely miss the opening set by The Gelheads from Chicago. The few songs I did catch from the guitar-pop three-piece were quite rockin’, though, as during the last two songs, the singer/guitarist went off on a few long and winding guitar solos that made my ears happy.
Seeing local four-piece Jettison Red play next served as a nice introduction to the band, since I’d really known nothing of them before. The group’s set started off a bit slow, but at some point during the band’s third song, the energy level picked up, and Jettison Red was tight from that point out. John Krebs was an excitable lad, thrashing about on his guitar while trading riffs and vocals with Chris Wujek, while Nicky Styxx and Paul Barning laid down a more-than-ample rhythm section. Set highlights included fierce performances of “The Suicide of Me” and “I Don’t Need,” though it seemed that the standout portion of Jettison Red’s performance was Krebs’ soloing in general (especially during the band’s closing cover of The Beatles’ “I Want You / She’s So Heavy”).
… and of course, from there, 19 Wheels took the stage and pumped out a set that included almost every song from the band’s recently released Jawbreaker album. “Bitter,” “(The Best of) Juliet” and “Erase Me” were early set highlights from the new material, as Chris Johnston once again proved why he has one of the best live voices in the Detroit area. Scott Owens got his time to shine on lead guitar as well, especially during the late-90’s throwback “Colorado” (which, as an added bonus, came complete with quick minute or so of David Bowie’s “Panic in Detroit”). On this night, though, the most impressive element of the band seemed to be the rhythm section. Tim Marzorati laid down impeccable bass lines, while drummer Rob Dickey kept the beat down solidly all night. The band also threw in a few tracks from Sugareen (“Broken TV,” “Rabies,” “So Cool” and “Boomtown”), though nothing in the set seemed to top a very heartfelt and sincere encore performance of Johnston’s ode to his young daughter, “Ruby Love.” -Mr. Gary