Nothing – Boot and Saddle – Philadelphia, PA – June 8th, 2014

I can’t remember exactly how I came across the band “Nothing.”  Maybe I wrote that down in a previous blog somewhere, but who can remember everything?  I think it was when I started to revisit my shoegaze romance back in January, and a few months later, they released their first album, and I was sold.

Lucky enough, a few months after that, this past Sunday, I got to see them live.  And it kicked ass.  Dominic Palermo is a crazy ass bastard that pulls off the rock star “I-don’t-give-a-fuck” attitude way better than I’ve ever been able to do.  Sure, once when I was pissed, I threw down my bass, flipped a keyboard off a stand, and jumped off the stage to go to the bar and do a shot.   That was once.  I have a feeling Mr. Palermo pulls that shit every single show.

First thing first.  When they took the stage at Boot and Saddle, they asked to have all the stage lights turned to red (which isn’t so great for the following photos).  You have no idea how shitty it is to be on stage with lights in your face.  It’s hot, it’s annoying, and who the hell wants to see my face anyway.  Dirty Robots have a similar want.  We don’t need to be seen.  I’d rather not be, actually.  Just let us turn up our amps.

Which is the second thing.  These guys got to play at the volume we TRY to play at before the owner of whatever bar we’re playing freaks the fuck out and yells at us.  This shit was loud and my ears happily rung for 24 hours.  Damn straight.  That’s fucking rock and roll.

It was like the 90s again.  They were loud, and heavy as hell, with a shit ton of distortion and endless reverb, and not a soul in the crowd did much more that nod their heads.  True shoegaze.  But the best part is this.  Twice, Dominic finished a song, swung off his guitar, and aimlessly threw it into the crowd, still plugged in, for that organic wall-of-sound finale!

And another time, nearer to the end of the show, he took a good old fashioned stage dive.  And I’m not talking about that pussy shit stage dive where you slowly lean back into a dozen pairs of hands to ease you up into the air.  No.  He dropped his guitar, got behind the drum set, and took a running swan dive into the dark and crowded floor and hoped for the best.

Oh, and the biggest rock star move of all?  Check out the video I shot of what the band pulled off in the middle of Broad Street immediately following their encore.  Bad Ass!  It’s no surprise Dominic served time in jail for stabbing a guy at a show.  Clearly, this dude doesn’t give a fuck!  And I really admire that.

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I recorded some of the set, but I knew before hand it would be nearly impossible to capture the sound properly.  But this video gives you a slight idea.

SO, HEY, DOMINIC PALERMO…IF YOU EVER NEED A BASS PLAYER, I’M IN!!

This is their official video, which was shot in the the same bar.  The crowd seems just as enthusiastic in the video as we were in real life.  Hey man, that’s the way this scene is.  Enjoy.