Black Pistol Fire @ The Sinclair
To say we were excited to experience Black Pistol Fire last week at the Sinclair is an understatement. I’ve certainly experienced their records, but having not seen them, I prepped myself catching a boatload of videos of their live shows. It’s obvious listening to their records the live show was going to be amazing in that “holy shit these guys sound amazing live” way. Touring on their newest record, Don’t Wake the Riot, which dropped last month, I settled in, whiskey in hand to a lively crowd (understatement) at the Sinclair.
From the second the Austin via Toronto Band stepped on stage it was a fury of release. Raw, visceral energy poured out of Kevin McKeown’s guitar and whiskey soaked voice led the crowd, while Eric Owen smashed the drums with a ferocity and with an almost pernicious vitriol. The two piece scorched the stage with pounding crowd favorites like “Suffocation Blues,” “Run Rabbit Run,” and even a Wailers cover of “Shot the Sheriff.” As the pair shifted from one song into another, tying songs with different time signatures seamlessly, they put together one of those gritty blues rock shows that left me completely mesmerized. They are ferocious, purely explosive, and an absolutely dynamic. Shredding through songs that seemingly never end, as an audience member you don’t get a chance to recover, to breath, you are completely transported. If there’s any way to make this show rock harder, I’m not sure what it is short of setting their instruments on fire.
This being my first time seeing this band, I can unabashedly say, it was revelatory. This band demands your attention, and if you’ve slept on them at all, you know now, don’t miss out next time. I think the littered GIFs and amazing photos of the night speak to what you missed, and what you will have to see next time they are in town.