We’ll Burn That Bridge When We Get There

The local scene has been buzzing lately. I mean, it’s always buzzing, and there’s always something happening, but I feel that every day, there are new bands and acts making their debut on the local stages. Tuesday night introduced Chase Elliott, a young musician with a heart of gold, to a packed audience at the 7th Street Entry. Thursday night brought Cheap Bouquet, a pop-punk band with a sense of angst and power that was almost too much for the intimate Cloudland stage. Living in such an active scene is a dream come true for someone like me who truly can not seem to consume enough music, but it’s also such a treasure for everyone else. Knowing that music is alive and thriving is something that should not be taken for granted, and I hope you have been lucky enough to get out there and see some of this new talent hitting the local stages. In case you haven’t, let me tell you about the magic you missed at Cloudland on Thursday night.

The night started with Mary Jam, and let me tell you, they started the night off with a bang. Their music was raw and intense, but there was a melodic base behind it, making it easy to listen to and get lost in. With elements of everything from country to blues hidden in their perfect punk-based sound, I instantly fell head over heels for this band that I had only heard about before Thursday night. Lyrically, this band is hilarious. Their songs covered topics from beer to finding a roach on a pizza to beer, and it was truly perfect. There were moments throughout their set when Mary Jam had me laughing, but the constant feeling of their set was just that– feeling. This band doesn’t care if they’re cool; it doesn’t really seem to care what you think of them; they were playing what spoke to their heart and what made them feel something, which, in turn, made me feel so much fire and passion throughout my body. Closing out their set with a flawless cover of Fidlar’s “Cheap Beer” was truly the cherry on top to an insanely perfect set. I’ve admittedly been sleeping on this band, but I’m awake now, and I am already scouring their socials to see when I can catch them again.

Mary Jam’s set was full of emotion, but it was emotion-covered in angst. For me, that was perfect, but just in case that wasn’t quite your favorite way of expelling some demons and getting some aggression out at a Thursday night punk show, Virginia’s Basement was next, and they surely hit you right in the gut with their passion and artistry. I loved the way that this band started and ended their set with poetry written by one of their own members- Nen G Ramirez. The poems were somber, speaking of the struggle that many people in attendance could relate to. Other than a few idiots who didn’t quite seem to understand what was going on, the crowd was stone-cold quiet as these poems were read before quickly being followed by an explosion of sound and emotion. Do you remember Hotel Books? Okay, maybe a bit of an obscure reference, but Hotel Books was an act that basically just did spoken word over lo-fi-styled beats and emo-leaning guitar licks. I hadn’t thought of that band in a hot minute, but that’s who Virginia’s Basement reminded me of but with a heavy dose of Hot Mulligan angst. I can not understate the amount of emotion this band put into every song. Vocalist Santana “Santi” Vigil had this uncanny way of making you feel what they were feeling but not too deeply, as if they were trying to transfer their trauma onto you. It was a spectacular feeling that swept over me throughout their quick set, and like Mary Jam, I am already trying to find another chance to catch this uber-powerful band live.

There was a sense of heaviness due to the pure emotion that Virginia’s Basement had left on the stage, but, have no fear, local Zaq Baker and his “team” were there to bring the fun back with their quirky songs and emotive faces. I find it kind of ironic that the first song this group played had the line, “My face is too expressive.” (or something like that) because, well, I was stuck on Zaq’s face throughout the set. They always say that you can take the theatre kid out of the the theatre but can’t take the theatre out of the kid and Zaq Baker is proof of that (okay, maybe no one says that but I’m saying that now). Stylistically, this was the poppiest band on the bill, but it worked. Their Something Corporate meets Broadway sound brightened my soul in a way that I truly needed after a pretty long Thursday. Zaq admitted that the Zaq Baker Team was the most uncool band of the show just before jumping into a cover of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” It was definitely a bit out of left field compared to the rest of the night, but I loved how this cover, in particular, really showcased the quirkiness of Zaq Baker Team’s sound and style and how it proved that it didn’t matter what kind of music you play or what you liked to listen to, there was a place for you at Cloudland on Thursday night.

Everyone, I want to introduce you to a new force in the local scene- Cheap Bouquet. Although Thursday night was their first-ever show, they had a whole dang banner hanging behind them, so, yeah, I guess you could say things are pretty serious. There are familiar faces in this band, most notably for me, Chelsea Oxborough of The Von Tramps, which told me everything I needed to know. Cheap Bouquet was going to hit that stage with a sense of power and fun, which, in turn, would have my Thursday night evening feeling a bit more like a Friday, and that’s exactly what they did. Although it was definitely a bit rough around the edges for the first song or so, Cheap Bouquet quickly found their rhythm and treated the audience to their unique brand of pop-punk. At face value, their sound is angsty, fast, and fun, but if you really start to dig into the many layers that make Cheap Bouquet’s sound, you realize that there are undertones of tenderness and care that really add a sense of depth to their carefree sound.

Being that this was Cheap Bouquet’s debut show and the fact that I only know a couple of their singles at this point, I can’t tell you what songs they played or anything like that, but when welcoming a new band to a scene, that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that this new band makes you feel something. That they get you excited about what’s happening locally and light a fire under your butt that makes you want to go out to more local-centric shows because, at the end of the day, you get more heart and passion from these shows than you do from the national touring acts that are constantly coming through. Cheap Bouquet did just that on Thursday night and I can not wait to see this band grow into the megastars that I know they will be.