Alternative punk, shoegaze band Whirr joined their friends, Nothing to put on a show at Bottom of The Hill February 3rd, 2015. Bands Whirr and Nothing put out a split via Run For Cover Records late of last year, as well as their album Sway through Graveface Records, leaving much to be anticipated for this show.
Band member Nick Bassett, now a member of both bands, by far had the most stage presence as Whirr opened. Not to say that Whirr in particular captured a presence in any way by simply coming on stage. It was almost stunning the minute music was played because prior there was nothing but unimpressive stares and silence. As Whirr played the more impressive they became. Little to no speaking at all was done besides the obvious vocals but their sound was indescribably moving. Each note felt perfectly executed and I literally mean felt because in the moderately small venue that is Bottom of the Hill Whirr’s instruments captivated on a physical level. In many instances in their songs where the instrumentals drop had the crowd floored. After loud dreamlike sounds washing over you to complete silence only to be thrown right back into heavy guitar progression is quite an experience. Could not have been executed better or by a more talented band.
Following Whirr, Nothing takes the stage with a little help from Bobb Bruno of Best Coast who made the cameo of stage hand. Although it was a fun game of, “is that Bobb?” during the wait, even better was once Nothing began to play. Founding member and lead vocalist, Domenic Palermo took the stage by storm unapologetically. Beyond stoked to be in San Francisco playing a show with his pals but not at all pleased with Bottom of the Hill as a venue. For a venue to have a strict no stage diving rule is completely baffling especially when booking bands like Nothing to play. However, Bottom of the Hill does and they booked Nothing to play only to result in Domenic urging the crowd to not pay attention to all the posted signs warning us not to jump off the stage. Naturally as Nothing began to play we began to mosh and run onto the stage only to be stopped by very big men in dark windbreakers. It went so far that Bottom of the Hill staff made their presence known on stage, which received much backlash from not only the crowd. The band as a whole grew frustrated but only Domenic was speaking out. After urges from fellow bandmate Brandon Setta to get on with the show, Nothing finished their set to end an amazing show.
To experience Whirr for yourself be sure to check out their show with Wildmoth on April 24th at the Catalyst located on Pacific Ave in Downtown Santa Cruz. For more information and tickets visit http://www.catalystclub.com/