The Reverberations, the Van der Rohe at the Double Down, Sunday Sept 11, 2016

I missed Portland's Reverberations the last time they came through Vegas due to car problems, but this time I made a concerted effort, despite hanging at the DD the previous two nights. Well worth being a little tired at work on a Monday!

Cromm Fallon's (Astaires) side project, The Van der Rohe, opened the night and despite some considerable technical problems (not sure what all happened, but it seemed very frustrating), they got the crowd up'n'dancin' with their brand of snappy 60's garage'n'roll. Bassist Noland Magnuson sang the first tune before lead vocalist Will Lizarraga joined them for the rest of the set. Cromm's guitar tone varied from clean to wildly overdriven fuzz madness, while Noland's fuzz bass drove the songs with Omar Perez providing snappy drum rolls and the rockin' back beat. I believe there was some originals mixed in with 60's classics like Q65's "Cry in the Night" and the Fabs' "The Bag I'm In", but it all worked together seamlessly in an energetic fuzz'n'roll party. Great stuff - definitely looking forward to hearing more from them!

The Reverberations loaded up the stage with Vox amps and keyboard, Epiphone guitars and a Rickenbacker bass and then slammed into another set of vicious, high energy fuzz garage. At times reminding me of my old band, the Unclaimed (singer Dave has a similar style to Shelly Ganz), they also had hints of the Kinks, a bit of the Byrds/Turtles and the sonic madness of the MC5 (whose "Lookin' At You" they covered). Great players all around (Dave's a fine lead guitarist as well as singer) and cool originals as well as fine taste in covers. Totally a blast and they again got the people dancin' and crowdin' the merch table after the set. This was the completion of a short west coast tour, but hopefully they will return soon (despite some online jealousy from the out of town band that had to follow them) on a Friday or Saturday so that Vegas can show up in force. Another superb night of r'n'r at the Double Down!