Exit/In is an iconic Nashville music venue that boasts a proud
history of performers from John Lee Hooker, Etta James and Johnny Cash to
Clutch, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Sword. That history is prominently
displayed on the wall outside, the walls inside, and in the memories of tens of
thousands of music fans that have visited.
Tonight, Swedish rockers
Graveyard and fellow countrymen Bombus are in town to add their names to the
mix.
With three studio albums
under their belt (Graveyard 2007, Hisingen Blues 2011, Lights Out 2012)
and a long road of successful live touring in their wake, the band has
developed and grown quite a following of fans. Half a dozen friends warned me
that their live show was amazing, and I was excited to finally get a chance to
drink it all in.
And drink I did.
Orange gear littered the
stage like a harbinger and the foursome took control right away in a no
nonsense style, weaving deftly in and out of soulful, slow jams and heavy,
power tracks. All of them clutching for your soul and demanding that you not only
ride the retro vibe, but turn a mirror on yourself and start some serious,
proper introspection. The lyrics are a shade darker in person, darker
than the music, and I felt myself drawn in closer and closer to whatever is
awaiting me at the end of the tunnel. No light, but the gold tooth in the
devil's smile, Joakim might say.
I surely wasn't the only
one drawn in. Dozens chanted, yelled, screamed and craved every song, every
verse and every riff. Man, these fans were getting into berzerker mode at some
point while I was looking deep inside myself. This crowd enjoyed themselves and
I couldn't help but feel a warm nostalgia, thinking that the old smoky tendrils
of Sabbath and Deep Purple were alive and embracing a new generation with a new
vigor and a new depth. It was all old, and yet new and sickly wonderful.
It was a long ride home
still pondering my fate along that wide road I have walked a thousand times. I
don't know if that last dedicated fan was correct, but I placed my three
Graveyard albums close to the turntable, ready to look into my black tunnel
again very soon.
Thank you guys. I want to
drink again.
- Oldfatbroke
Comments