JOHN WEBSTER JOHNS @ echo

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Crooked Cowboy and The Freshwater Indians || Watch

Crooked Cowboy are a little hard to define. You could say they play folk music, or country, or folk-rock, and you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. But after seeing them live, these labels would be so limiting. When you look at them as whole, the best way to describe them would be ghost-cowboy rock on acid.

That’s right, ghost cowboy rock on acid. Marianne Williams’ voice was ethereal, an otherworldly call above Brendan Willard’s steady, growling vocals. The guitarist didn’t provide a predictable country twang, but instead sounded a lot more on the psyche rock side. And with his drum sticks pounding away at a giant tom-tom drum, their drummer, Nick Murray could really drum. Not to mention Williams’ use of a celesta, a small metal-xylophone piano.

Crooked Cowboy sang songs about silver six shooters, gypsy lovers, and bumpy roads. A few band members stayed true to the cowboy theme, wearing old Wild-West-style hats and clothes (the nice looking kind, not the cheesy looking kind). All throughout their set, giant stage projections displayed above their heads. The multimedia often multiplied a live feed of the band, creating a trippy feel. Distorted clips from Todd Browning’s 1932 film Freaks mixed with blurred videos of strippers pole dancing. It was a little bizarre and completely fitting for the band. – Loudvine

with:
Cairo Gang
Johnny O ‘Donnel and Famous Players
John Webster Johns || Listen

8pm / $7 / 18+

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