Live Music Review: Bartees Strange at Empire Control Room
Bartees Strange, Pom Pom Squad, and They Hate Change performed an intimate set at Empire Control Room. “I’ve been following They Hate Change for years now. I was excited to have a lineup that was all black, all brown, queer people,” Bartees Strange proclaimed November 29 at Empire Control Room.
They Hate Change opened up their set with a light-hearted tone early in the evening, then abruptly turned up the dial, serving as each other’s own hype men. Comprised of Vonne Parks and Andre “Dre” Gainey, the DIY rap duo have been collecting sounds together since their teens, taking turntables and adding drum and bass.
Dressed in HAZMAT suits, Parks and Gainey kept their raps loose and goofed around, posing for cameras and leaning out over the stage. “Who’s Next” ushered in revitalized energy with bass and drum beats while Parks matched the speed with rapid fire lyrics. Gainey joined the audience, creating a circle around him for “X-Ray Spex”, adding deeper, deliberate rhymes with heavier southern stylings.
Pom Pom Squad decked themselves out like Valentine’s Day party hosts. Lead Mia Berrin Berrin set aside her guitar for their song, “Cake”. “This is about being passed over people not recognizing your talent of your worth, and basically fuck everyone.” Bandleader Mia Berrin had room to traipse about the stage over the raucous, pop-punk track, eventually topping off the drum set.
Pom Pom Squad suffered a deal of bad luck during their tour in Europe. While in Italy, their van was broken into and their belongings were stolen. Fortunately, fans were able to raise enough money through a GoFundMe in order for them to purchase new instruments. On tour, they were able to let out some of their frustrations: “This song has a scream-along segment of the song. It’s like a sing-along, but with screaming.” Berrin picked up her guitar and led Empire Control Room in much needed, cathartic screams.
Closing out the set, Berrin took center stage for the whimsical ballad, “Be Good”. Gradually, her bandmates counted in while Berrin caressed the air.
Headliner, Bartees Strange’s pedalboard resembled a NASA computer from the sixties, about to launch Empire Control Room into space. Each member of the band had several weapons, guitarist Daniel Kleederman had four guitars and a toy megaphone, drummer TK Johnson had her drumset as well as a drum machine, and finally Bartees Strange with five guitars. In an interview with Guitar World, he cites a broad series of influences, such as TV on the Radio, Klaxons, and Bloc Party to Albert Collins, Albert King, and Peter Frampton. Bartees Stranges’ music crosses a myriad of genres, too, from post-punk to hip hop.
“Flagey God” exhibited Bartees Strange’s experimentation with mixing musical genres. The guitarist and Strange would both drop down to their knees, attending to the motherboards. His guitarist took out the little red mini megaphone and pressed it to the built-in amp on a guitar to wail a low pitch, siren sound. “Flagey God” tampered with electronics and drum machines. “Ok, Austin, I know y’all are real cool and all, but I’m going to need y’all to break it down.” The hook featured more of the little red megaphone to mimic what most DJs capture on their soundboard or back in the day, an airhorn.
“I got this news alert that George Floyd was killed. All my white colleagues were like, are you okay. I remember watching his daughter speak and everyone at work was like, oh that’s so brave, and this the darkest thing you can have a child go through.” Everyone focused in on Bartees Strange while he played “Hold The Line,” The song was written after the Floyd’s daughter’s speech. Not a phone out for his soulful rendition. “He’s calling to his mother now,” Strange crooned.
The crowd jammed out to the post-punk inspired jam “Boomer,” where the frontman gathers guitar and drum stylings from the genre, but adds a blues-inspired hooks to the track. The guitarist would mimic the sounds of his guitar as he played.
He introduced the track “Heavy Heart” as a product of the pandemic; as his friends were going through dark times, and Strange felt guilty celebrating the success he had achieved. Finally, the set concluded with “Hennesey”, a song he had wrote at fifteen years-old that had remained an unfinished thesis towards the music he would create.
All photos by Michael Maly
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