Day 2 of Field Trip South II
Day 2 of Field Trip South II
The Belltowers, The Improbables, The Hall Monitors, The Othermen, The Blind Owls, The Delusionaires, and The Phantom Surfers
Friday, February 17
Will’s Pub, Orlando, FL
Day 2, So y’all ready for this?
Car troubles plagued acts from far away places, and the show soldiered on undaunted.
Blind Rage and Violence got the party started with a Link Wray tribute. I missed it, but heard they were great.
Orlando’s own The Belltowers proved themselves to be a live band of note. With tight harmonies and chiming, sugar sweet riffs pushed by a propulsive rhythm section, the band made good on the promises of their recorded material. Closing with the great song, “Wait!”, The Belltowers are formidable.
Another Philadelphia act, The Improbables, sounded like therapy. With a bluesman’s delivery, deep grooves like ruts in a dirt road, This band sounds like the car that’s dropping parts all the way to a first place finish. Held together with angst, and torment, this is what’s playing in your mind on those nights you can’t sleep.
From New York, came the OTHERMEN, who overcame vehicular troubles and arrived too late to play Friday night, but was worked into Saturday’s line-up. The OTHERMEN attacked their set with a wild abandon that verged on being primal.
The Hall Monitors, from Baltimore, Maryland, brought their gritty bubblegum goodness all the way here for our listening pleasure. And they were brilliant. This is what amazing garage rock is supposed to be. Catchy, brief, and irresistible.
From Corpus Christi The Blind Owls also suffered van troubles. Making it to the show just in time via Uber. Undaunted by transportation woes, the band had the vitality and charm of Hamburg era Beatles. Energetic, smooth in places, coarse in others and showing nothing but promise. The Blind owls are a bunch of young upstarts and deserve space on your permanent playlist.
Orlando band The Delusionaires played some of the raunchiest, throwback 1959 styled instrumental rock I’ve ever heard. Nadeem Khan, drummer Dennie Carter, guitarist Aaron Jarvis, and saxophonist Jim Ivy, had the audacity to delve deep into roots rock and surface with a rough hewn gem.
Saturday’s headliners The Phantom Surfers served up a memorable set. Primarily instrumental, the band delivered 
reverb soaked goodness that roiled and swelled by turns, before heading back for another ride into shore.
Festival founders and organizers Carol Benanti and Scott Sugiuchi have upped the ante and declared themselves serious players in underground music. This now annual show is gathering a head of steam and all interested parties breathlessly anticipate what more might come in the future.
The best Garage Rock taps into something primitive and urgent. Whether unfinished, or heavily produced, the art screams of immediacy. Emotions that need to be made vocal now. And because it’s an art form that lives now, in this moment, it never feels dated or obsolete when it’s done right. And Carol, Scott, and all those responsible for Hidden Volume Records have tapped into a vital, and compelling moment and have been good enough to share it with us. Thankfully.
