Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Cellar Doors
Slims
December 19, 2012

The Bay Area is lucky to call BRMC their own. The band announced a few West Coast shows to prepare for their upcoming tour in support of their new album. San Francisco was the first of these one-off shows and what an awesome night it turned out to be.

The band started the show out with Santa Cruz’s The Call’s ‘Let the Day Begin’. Robert sang that song and what an awesome way to start out the show as Robert’s father was the singer. Apparently Santa Cruz was treated to the song with a former band member. The band continued on into a new song ‘Funny Games’ and then the crowd pleasing dirty gritty jangly ‘Beat the Devil’s Tattoo’. It sounded great and the crowd was energized and singing along.

Some of the other stand-outs were the guitar-heavy and oh so catchy ‘Berlin’ which had everyone singing along to the chorus. ‘Aint No Easy Way’ off of Howl stood out with the awesome harmonica sounds of Peter. The alt-folk jangly pop song is always a toe-tapper.

The songs off their new album had the bluesy/garage neo-psychedelia rock sound of their last album. The songs sounded tight with lots of great guitar work from Robert (who was in front of me). It was always a delight to see Peter whip out his harmonica and start tapping his feet and playing along in some of the more folkier sounding songs. It was harder to see Peter but he always sounds great and his guitar work always sounds impressive. The addition of Leah, drummer of The Raveonettes, is a great add-on. She fits right in with the guys and always seemed to be having a really great time. Her drumming is top-notch.

Their show was a good 90 minute set if not longer. The setlist contained everything that one might expect/want to hear. The band seemed very excited to be playing Slims and such a small club as they tend to play bigger venues these days. They wasted no time with getting through their music and didn’t even bother with an encore just playing all the way right through it.

The set ended with ‘Lose Yourself’ and everyone seemed to be dancing to it, with heads bobbing, moving back and forth and singing along. The crowd was really into it and the band couldn’t have ended on a higher note.

The opener Cellar Doors from San Francisco was discovered on their last tour when BRMC needed an opener. They had only played one show (maybe?) and were asked to join them. The band quickly learned all their songs for the tour and joined them in San Diego. Its great to see that the band is still around and sounding strong.

The band has a similar sound to BRMC with their heavy garage rock sound mixed with a bluesy influence. Their songs were infectious and I found myself easily getting into their music. The lyrics were catchy and they had some great hooks. The 3 piece pulled out an awesome 45 minute set that you just didn’t want to end.

I’ll definitely be checking them out at their show at Bottom of the Hill next month and so should you! If you missed BRMC and love their sound, for now this is the best thing to get your fix!

Set List:
Let The Day Begin
Funny Games (new)
Beat the Devil’s Tattoo
Berlin
Conscience Killer
Rifles
Love Burns
Screaming Gun
Lullaby (new)
Aint No Easy Way
Rival (new)
Stop
US Government
Awake
Red Eyes and Tears
Six Barrel Shotgun
Spread Your Love
Lose Yourself