Boogarins, on tour from Brazil

Illegally Blind put on a great show last week and we want you to know about it.

Gymshorts, winning most-punk and most-jumping, played a fluid opening set. Their fast songs were interrupted by the occasional slow-motion breakdown, which saw Sarah Greenwell switching from shriek to guttural growl. Sharp, surfy guitar leads rang out over everything.

The Televibes followed, a power-trio rocking heavy-psych songs with happy melodies. Much of their set was devoted to extended guitar freak-outs––the highlight of which came when singer-guitarist Charlie Northern snatched the mic as a make-shift guitar slide, letting the stand fall to the floor when it couldn’t hang on any longer. He had the swagger to end the set with his band jamming under a thick wall of guitar-pedal noise.

The Televibes

Soon, with a tinge of Halloween in the guitar leads, Atlantic Thrills were up and playing the sonic equivalent of freezing night-surfing in a swampy ocean. They played like pros, everything locked and crystal-clear, with the advantage of an excellent stage mix. Oddly enough, their single––“A Day at the Beach,” was the set’s low-point for me. Live, it seemed to have too many verses and not much intensity.

I don’t know if it’s an Atlantic Thrills “thing,” but there was a lot of liquid flying around during their set. Some audience members were lightly splashing water on singer-bassist Eric Aguiar for a while, but once Aguiar dumped a cup onto his own head: things escalated. Hit square in the face with a cupful of something, guitar-wizard Daniel Tanner stopped playing to fill his mouth with (a lot of) PBR. He spewed a wide conical beer-spray over the audience. Then, the last people I expected to throw their drinks threw their drinks, just as Atlantic Thrills wrapped up.

Boogarins have been touring the world (really––the world) since March. In full-on touring-band mode, they played an impeccable set with very few pauses, everything running together and connected by inventive jamming. Fernando Almeida is a phenomenal singer, especially when he digs into it and gets a little menacing. Their guitar melodies are exceptionally well-crafted and fun.

It’s better that I don’t speak Portuguese. I’d hate to learn what their songs are really about. Boogarins’s rocking psychadelia is so richly expansive that at their best (and in a few years I bet they’ll almost always be at their best), the songs sound profound. They sound like they’re about everything: aching feet and cosmic dust settling and peace and war.

All photos by Pete Schluter