Nestled neatly between my opening day/life-changing live experiences of Rin Tin Tiger and decoded, Tom Grainey’s and Treefort threw in a swagger filled rock session packed with enough ferocity and debauchery that I wasn’t sure I could go on.
Fit snugly on stage, Boise’s The Blaqks packed the venue with a loyal local following and a few curious travelers. With little to no expectations I stood in sheer awe of The Blaqks, their interaction with the crowd, the passion the crowd had for this band, and the sadness that I was only now experiencing them.
What unraveled before us quickly became one of those moments in life when you had no idea what you were getting yourself in to but you couldn’t, even if you wanted to, pull yourself away. And I had absolutely no intention of missing even a beat. The infectious rock had me at hello and refused to let up until I knew for sure the band was finished. Playing tracks from their 2013 release The Funeral Party, I couldn’t help but gravitate to their wall of sound twisted among a seasoned stage presence that was emanating from each member of the band. The explosion of heavy guitar solos, shared harmonies and ornate instrumental-psyche-bludgeoning twisted and turned inside the venue with little regard to human presence. The band, as agreed by myself and another musician present that shall not be named, staged the equivalent mannerisms as David Byrne fronting a modern heavy/experimental rock show. It was orchestrated to the most entertaining degree.
Credit: Erin Cecil/Treefort
When all was said and done, nobody wanted to stop and catch their breath. We all only wanted more. The pub would soon be emanating the sounds of decoded, but before the crowd dispersed we all relished in the ringing guitar solos, key breakdowns and wave of vocals that made us all, whether new or old, fans of The Blaqks.
Greg is a regular contributor and co-founder at Nanobot. He currently resides in the Boise area, enjoys the outdoors, frothy beverages and Cheez-Its. Though not always at the same time.
