I was bummed that I missed Riot Fest in Chicago this year, and one of the reasons was that I missed Bleached‘s set there. I discovered Bleached earlier this year DJ’ing for WSND and really enjoyed their new record, Welcome the Worms.
Luckily for me, Bleached were playing in Cleveland at the Grog Shop on the night my wife were there for her birthday road trip. The Grog Shop is a nice venue. My wife described it as one of her favorites of all the places I’ve dragged her to this year. It’s roomy, but not cavernous. Just avoid the Ace pumpkin cider.
First up on the bill were Hunny, a pop-punk outfit from L.A. with a lot of guitars and swagger. They sounded like Green Day if Green Day decided to keep playing mid-size venues instead of writing Broadway musicals.
Bleached played second, and they killed it. A batch of Millennial girls started a tiny mosh pit as soon as Bleached put down the first chord. They opened with “Keep On Keepin’ On” from the new record and tore through other tracks like “Trying to Lose Myself Again” and “Wasted on You” from Welcome the Worms and “Looking for a Fight” and “Outta My Mind” from their first record, Ride Your Heart (review coming soon).
Jessica Clavin had a definite Suzi Gardner / L7 power in her guitar work, and bassist Micayla Grace was on point. Drummer Nick Pilot did a great job, and even swapped his drums for Jennifer Clavin’s guitar (while she took over kit duties) at the end. It was a solid set that won them a lot of new fans.
Last up was Beach Slang, which was only singer / guitarist James Alex that night for reasons unknown. He played a loud, wild set of punk anthems and even invited audience members to join him on stage to play with him. Two people did, picking up a bass guitar and getting behind Bleached’s drum kit for one track – and doing well for being an impromptu rhythm section. Mr. Alex had a lot of fans in the crowd who went wild for his new material.
It was a good night of rock. I hope you were there.
Keep your mind open.
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