Feature photo by Nicholas Evans
Story by Nicholas Evans
After damage from Hurricane Helene prevented their performance in Asheville, North Carolina, psychedelic rock band Osees managed to go on in a sweaty, abrasive show at Nashville’s Exit/In on Oct. 28.
Setting the mood for the main act to come, opening Atlanta five-piece Upchuck hailed to the cramped stage. The hardcore punk band blazed through an extended anger-soaked opening set with little to no stopping. Throughout the set, vocalist Kaila “KT” Thompson sporadically walked off stage and leaned over barriers to shout directly into the crowd. After one of these moments, Thompson returned to the stage to spray a mouthful of water at the audience.
Thompson took a break to allow drummer Chris Salado to take the mic for a few songs primarily sung in Spanish, while lead guitarist Michael Durham took over the kit.
Near the end of the set, songs slowed down and psychedelic guitar effects entered the mix.
Less than half an hour later, Osees, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist John Dwyer, took the stage. Despite having the same amount of members as the opening band, Osees looked considerably bigger on stage due to the dual kits of drummers Dan Rincon and Paul Quattrone sitting front and center.
From the opening notes, the force of the dual drummers electrified the crowd, sending a cataclysmic force throughout the packed venue.
The show spanned around twenty songs of all-killer-no-filler, but had a notable absence of tracks from the band’s latest LP, “SORCS 80.” As is tradition for the tour, the band opened with the heavy-psych rager “Plastic Plant” from their 2016 LP “A Weird Exits,” followed by a selection of songs from their scum punk record “A Foul Form,” in which Dolas retires his synths to act as a secondary guitarist.
The constant transfer of power between the crowd and stage at shows allows the ferocious audience to act as its own instrument at an Osees performance. In one notable instance, as the audience lost control, one of several crowd surfers was held up by his feet, towering over the audience in an upright, wide stance before sinking back through the crowd. Dwyer was unable to start his next verse due to his own laughter. Between Dwyer understandably and consistently asking the audience if they were okay and once calling out bad behavior, he made his appreciation for the crowd turnout very clear.
“Buying tickets on … what is it, a Monday?” Dwyer said. “You’re ridiculous.”
Some see it as strange that a band as prolific and long-lasting as Osees continues to play venues the size of Exit/In, but that’s exactly what the band is meant for. Every crowd is concentrated down to people who truly love the music and energy of their shows. Ticket buyers have a set expectation on how to act — but it’s also a huge bonus when nearly all members of the compact crowd know every lyric, chanting them in chorus.
The set was full of memorable moments, most notably when a dog toy was used as an instrument to transition “The Dream” into “The Daily Heavy.” Among the most significant were the two extended jams near the end of the set.
“Encrypted Bounce” served as the high point of the entire performance. Dwyer, who clearly has an oral fixation, held the microphone with his mouth, distorting his vocals into chirps via synthesizer. He then held a guitar cable in his mouth while breathing rhythmically and touching the cable to a cymbal — all while holding his guitar pick in his mouth. Dwyer alone created a full soundscape on top of the bolstering dynamics contributed by the other members.
The other jam was “C,” the penultimate song of the night. The track began with looping sound effects before an introduction.
“That is a two-second cricket sample you’re hearing,” Dwyer said. “We trapped [the cricket] in the green room and we recorded him on a cell phone and we sampled it on whatever Connor brought from his planet.”
Halfway through the song, Dwyer left the stage and returned with a handful of Coronas. He set them down on the ground and drank an entire bottle in one sip. He then distributed the other bottles to the rest of the members, who also chugged each of their beers throughout the remainder of the song.
The band closed out the set with the calmer “Minotaur” from their 2013 LP “Floating Coffin.”
“We haven’t played this here in twenty years,” Dwyer said. “Or maybe it’s been two years?”
With each of their shows, Osees takes their gigantic discography and elevates each song to its energetic and blistering peak that, while largely in part due to Dwyer and Co., is in no small part contributed to by their rowdy and passionate fans, creating an experience that’s impossible to capture via their studio recordings.
“I’m gonna go home and watch a Chevy Chase movie,” Dwyer said.
Osees’ new album “SORCS 80” and its companion disc “SORCS 80 LIVE” are out now via Castle Face Records. Upchuck’s latest record, “Bite The Hand That Feeds,” is out now via Famous Class.
Nicholas Evans is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
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