Feb
27
2010

I Have Been Rocked

Stellanova and Tramps & Thieves @ Teakwoods

PhotosSaturday, February 27, 2010 - 11:27:55 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Live Shows)
As the subject implies, tonight was awesome. The biggest part of the night (at least for me) was getting to see Lawrence Zubia perform. Despite having listened to the Chimeras/Pistoleros since late 1996, I've never seen Lawrence perform, nor have I actually ever seen him in person before tonight. Which I blame on 2005 and a Pistoleros show happening while I was here but didn't know about until days later.

Photobox ImageWe were a little late, and were glad to hear them still finishing up the soundcheck when we walked into Teakwoods. For some context, Stellanova is basically the band for the last year that has been known as N.A.P.P (North American Power Phenomenon), and that we'd seen at Rock For Tots last year, billed as Rusty Buckles. A Tempe super group of sorts, with Jim Swafford (The Feedbags), Thomas Laufenberg and Scott Andrews (The Pistoleros) and Phil Rhodes (Gin Blossoms). Recently they added Lawrence Zubia and changed their name to Stellanova. The addition of Zubia pretty makes them The Persuaders (of a few years ago), plus Jim Swafford - that's if my memory that Jim wasn't in the Persuaders is correct.

Despite N.A.P.P having been fairly hard rocking, I was expected somewhat of a Pistoleros-esque jangle with the addition of Lawrence to the band (which seems funny to say, given he's the vocalist, not guitarist). But nope, things were as pretty much as balls to the wall as with N.A.P.P, which I like! By the third song, it was pretty obvious that we have something on our hands here!

Photobox ImageSo my impression of Lawrence? Every bit the rock star that I imagined. Funnily enough he's a much smaller frames guy than you picture having listened to those throaty vocals over the past - what is it - 14 years or so I guess, but has all the stage presence and rock star moves (leaning forwards over the stage straddlin' the mic stand, spinning away from the mic during solos) that you'd kinda picture. And that voice. Not that long ago, we'd been discussing how sad it was that I'd never seen Lawrence perform, and at the time, while agreeing totally, I also commented that it's okay, because Mark Zubia is so awesome, and having him fronting Los Guys makes up for things. Which it does, but seeing Lawrence on stage definitely confirms that having both Zubia's active is by far the preferred option. Which also highlighted the point that given that both Zubias are so great, together must really be something. And as such, I really hope that those two at some point put the Pistoleros back together, even if it's just a one time thing that I get to witness. One can only hope.

Photobox ImageLaufenberg wailed on the guitar, which had me pretty captivated. We'd actually had a chat about bass vs. guitar last night at Dead Hot, and while I really enjoy seeing him play bass with Dead Hot Workshop and Stephen Ashbrook when he comes through town, I must saw, more Laufenberg on guitar, thank you very much! He's just so great to watch play. The songs themselves were very rocky *insert rock fingers here*, and completely hook laden. That, combined with Lawrence's amazing vocals left you (or at least us) with one strong feeling - get this shit down on CD! Really, the songs were awesome, and it's obvious that they'll be favorites after only a few listens.

And Phil. I may have said it before, but I'll say it again. If I were a drum kit and saw Phil Rhodes walking towards me, I'd be afraid. Never let it be said that that guy can't pound those skin.

Tramps was fun, which isn't really news to anyone. Lawrence, who stuck around for most of the night got up with them ad did Dead Flowers which was really cool.

Post Comment



All fields are required. Email addresses will not be published, but are required for anti-spam purposas.

Switch Styles

About Style Switching.

!Weblog Index

Jan February 2010 Mar
SU MO TU WE TH FR SA
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28

Categories

RSS FeedRSS Feed