Live music review: White Denim returned to Mohawk after two year live music hiatus

The last time we covered Austin progressive rock band White Denim it was their 2018 Fall tour finale. Saturday’s show at Mohawk in the live music capital announced the band’s return to the stage along with their work on local indie rockers, Go Fever’s new record. Go Fever, along with Being Dead opened the show last weekend with stellar sets of their own before James Petralli and his crew took over the remainder of the evening.

The appearance was the first for the dynamic band whose lineup has changed considerably over the years. Bandleader, Petalli leads a foursome comprised of his steady right hand and bassist, Steve Terebecki, Cat Clemons (guitar) and Matt Young (drums). Clemons is a regular on Austin stages according to Petralli, wielding his axe with a talented flourish from what we could see Saturday. The dude is straight fire on guitar. The adept Young performs drums with Christopher Cross among others. It was remarkable to realize that despite the lineup changes, White Denim didn’t miss a beat delivering an exemplary performance after the long lay off.

Following a killer set by Go Fever that saw Australian-born Acey Monaro leading a cache of local musicians led by guitarist Josh Merry (Sweet Spirit, Glass Grapes). Merry was joined by Stijn Dobbelaere, Benjamin Burdick (The Preservation, Star Parks), Keith Lough (Burgess Meredith) for a rocking good show. Monaro announced their new record had been recorded at Radio Milk, White Denim’s vintage analog studio in East Austin before continuing a smashing show that set the table perfectly for White Denim’s return to the Mohawk stage.

The ten-minute plus clip above shows the band winding up the track “At Night” which displays Petralli’s vocal abilities (his soul croon is real) and set the crowd up for a rollicking “Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha” that had fans going berserk for the much-loved White Denim tune. It’s just a great “feel good” song that everyone can easily relate to.

White Denim featured songs from their surprise full-length, Crystal Bullets including the title track while winding up the performance with popular tunes, “Might Get Dark,”  and crowd-pleaser, “I Start to Run,” before finishing up the 17-song performance with “Fine Slime” from the same amazing 2018 record, Performance as the track “Might Get Dark” putting a nice bookend on that segment of the show.

White Denim continue their mini tour with an appearance at See Here Now Festival in New Jersey September 18 and a sold-out Brooklyn Bowl show September 19 in New York City.

The band is also hosting an album release by Semihelix next month with yours truly at the studio on October 23. Find more information by clicking the poster on our home page. We’ll have more details on the show with my education and ThunderStars in a show preview set to run next month.

All photos Ryan Vestil

Set list:

Had to know
Sky beaming”
I’d have it just the way
Take it easy
At night
Ha ha
Sex prayer
Crystal bullets
King Tears
Place to start
Anvil everything
It’s Him
Farm
Might get dark
I start to run
Shanalala
Fine slime

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