Saturday night featured a great night of free music at the always festive Brooklyn Night Bazaar. Craft Spells were headliners, with support comings from The Bilinda Butchers, Foxes In Fiction, and Heavenly Beat. Unfortunately Foxes In Fiction’s Warren Hildebrand was under the weather and had to cancel, but even so, the trio of bands made for a memorable night of free music for fans of all ages (it was a very young crowd).
Heavenly Beat, the project led by former Beach Fossils bassist John Peña, got the night started with a set of rock tunes with a heavy electronic dance edge. The live lineup featured just a bassist, along with him on guitar, with backing tracks guiding them the rest of the way. Peña offered some humorous banter in-between songs, some of which was rather self deprecating about how his latest album Eucharist went slightly under the radar with its late release last year. You can check that album out now over at bandcamp.
I heard some good things about The Bilinda Butchers from friends, but they sadly slipped under my radar before their set on Saturday night, which served as my proper introduction. The San Francisco based trio make dreamy rock and roll that has bits of shoe-gaze, ambience, and synth-rock all rolled into one convincing package. Most of the material they played was taken from their ambitious debut album Heaven (released by Orchid Tapes last year), a concept record based around a fictional love story focused on “the diary of Ume Nakajima, a young woman who lived in 19th century Japan.” Their material felt larger than life and was able to take a firm hold of all your senses. An unexpected cover of The Whitest Boy Alive’s “Burning,” snuck in and became the highlight of their set. I never did get to see TWBA perform it, so getting to hear The Bilinda Butcher’s cover made up for that. It’s a song too good to ever be forgotten.
I hadn’t seen Craft Spells live since they opened for The Drums at Webster Hall way back in 2012. Although the live lineup has gone through changes since then, the heart and soul of Justin Vallesteros’ Craft Spells has stayed very much intact. A good chunk of their set came from last year’s Nausea, but a healthy majority came from their still very enjoyable debut effort, Idle Labor.
The crowd was filled with eager youngsters who were swept up by the youthful dance motions of favorites like “Party Talk” and “After The Moment.” There was a bit of heavy movement within the crowd, a surprising notion that even had Vallesteros shocked, smiling while saying “shit, thanks guys.” There were also more tender moments such as the fogged up dream that is the new album’s title track “Nausea.” The 1-song encore performance of “Scandinavian Crush” was a blazing finisher, sending youthful bodies into one another, joyfully all while smiling.
It’s the sort of feeling you got while listening to Craft Spells at home all alone. To see it brought to life in such a manner is not something you’ll ever take for granted.
Find photos of all three acts posted below.
Heavenly Beat:
The Bilinda Butchers:
Craft Spells:
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