Over the weekend, Great Scott was host to a few great shows. On Saturday, the British rock band Drenge headlined a quick bill — it was only Drenge and New York three-piece, Made Violent.
Drenge played Great Scott — and America — for the first time last year. They had just released their first album, and it was a weeknight in the city. The small crowd are not disappointed that night, but Saturday’s show was leaps and bounds above their first show here. Eoin Loveless and Rory Loveless held their own last year on the small stage, but this year they were joined by bassist Rob Graham, making everything sound so much fuller. They also looked more comfortable on stage: they joked about watching The Hunger Games Part 2 on the bar television, and eating too much pasta before their set.
Their new album, Undertow, came out in April, just shy of two years after their first self-titled LP. It’s been a fairly quick ascension for this pair of brothers, who gigged around the Sheffield area in England for a while at the beginning, but now find themselves on festival lineups all across Europe and Asia, opening for acts like Blur and Arctic Monkeys.
In America, it’s slower going. The masses are still in the process of discovering their underground sound. It’s not like their sound isn’t accessible: it’s catchy, but not cheesy; tough, but not offensive; grungy, but not a 90s rip-off. Eoin’s deep voice pairs well with the ominous rhythms and melodies their songs carry. Rory’s percussion goes from lightning fast to delicately slow with ease. They can produce energetic punk songs, and forlorn ballads, too.
Saturday night they ran through the first half of their set by playing songs from Undertow, and then peppered in a few hits from their self-titled album. Since they didn’t have a bassist in the band when they toured in support of their first album, they did some rearranging, and Graham sometimes played guitar with Eoin, doubling the sound and really making it rich like you’d hear on the album.
Openers Made Violent hailed from Upstate New York, and were opening for Drenge all along this short US tour. Their energetic sound brought some serious rock n roll to the stoic crowd at Great Scott, whose lackadaisical response made bassist and lead singer Joe White tell the audience that they can get a refund at the door if they preferred — before being corrected: there were no refunds allowed. Their garage rock is reminiscent of Chicago-based rock band The Orwells, and got better with every song they played that night. And the crowd warmed up along with them.
It may be another year before Drenge comes back around, but after their run around the festival circuit, who knows. Made Violent will be at the Middle East with Wolf Alice on August 5.
