Closed out our day today with a live performance by Ethel Cain at the sold-out Valley Bar. First up as the opening act was Colyer who turns out to be the co-writer of Ethel’s song American Teenager. During his short 30-minute performance, we didn’t know of his connection to Ethel nor did we know that he’d be playing guitar during her set. Colyer seemed to be channeling Chris Isaak with a bit of Leonard Cohen sprinkled in (according to Caroline) and for me, it was a mix of Teddy Pendergrass and George Michael: slow vibes, and smoky sensuality for the shoegaze crowd.
Ethel took the stage to wild enthusiasm from the audience, and I can’t emphasize enough, seriously wild enthusiasm. The roar in this tiny 500-person venue reminded me of the kind of scream reserved for those who are on their way to superstardom. While I could be mistaken, I think Ethel opened with American Teenager which resonated with many in the crowd who are still a lot closer to their teenage years than us two oldies that were in attendance, probably looking like chaperones for some kids we brought. The rather short set closed with Crush and, as the old proverbial saying goes, “…the crowd went wild.” It was obvious that this was the most popular song of the evening if that is judged by the number of audience members singing along. Sadly, the encore was but one song, likely due to time constraints of this being an all-ages show and the bar needing to get to other business after kicking out the kids
Walking out of the venue we ran into Aaron Coldblood who we’ve not seen in a few years. Nothing has changed with Aaron, well except that his old dog passed away since we last saw him. We learned that Aaron has been wearing the hat of DJ most recently organizing shows here in Phoenix but with the possibility of a gig starting over in Vegas. His shows focus on industrial, Witch House, and something else I can’t recall. While you wouldn’t guess it from Aaron’s gruff exterior he’s quite the sweet guy who seriously loved his old dog, enjoys drives on the Pacific Coast, was brought to tears at a recent Tori Amos show and was nearly moved to tears by Ethel this evening, what a romantic.