by Zak Mercado (@ciaoguaglione)
Some things are meant to go together, like syrup on pancakes or fires and camping trips. Just as a cheese monger and a sommelier may find the perfect pairing, the gods blessed a crowd with a perfectly paired bill on June 1, 2023. 2nd Grade and The Bug Club played at Union Pool in Brooklyn to a receptive audience. Some danced. Some bobbed their heads. Some remained still, with smiling faces., but the audience, indubitably, thoroughly enjoyed their perfectly prepared pairing.
2nd Grade took a short drive over from Philly. Their past two New York City outings, at Berlin and The Sultan Room, saw them in a trio. This time around, they played in four: songwriter Peter Gil on vocals and a stylish Fender bass, Jon Samuels ready to shred on guitar, Catherine Dwyer (absent in recent NYC outings) with pretty backing vocals and cheerful guitar, and Francis Lyons pounding on the kit. As such, there was more freedom to play an expanded setlist with songs requiring two guitars for greater impact.
They brought their typical winning and playful mood. Almost every song was quick paced, opening with “Cover of Rolling Stone,” and playing through songs from each of their released albums. On “Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider,” Gill and Samuels each did a ceremonial kick to the lyric “Baby, moving on is how I get my kicks.” Gill’s charming stage banter included a fake Budweiser ad, holding up his beer can like Laura Linney’s character in the Truman Show, and an anecdote about breaking a key in a lock earlier that day.
The Philly-based crew played a new song, dubbed “Guess and Check Girls,” giving the NYC 2nd Grade fan club hope of a forthcoming album. They wrapped up their set with a spirited rendition of “Teenage Overpopulation,” leaving the audience wanting more, but ultimately satiated by an excellent set.
The headliners came out around 9 p.m. They made it clear, not long into their set, that this was their first show in the States, and they were jet-lagged. Coming from Wales, doing quick math(s), their set opened around 2 a.m. in their normal hours. If they were tired, which they expressed they were, it did not show at all. To their massive credit, they brought incredible energy to a receptive audience. Sam Willmett, on guitar and vocals, ripped many solos and completed several subtle, yet not unnoticeable, hip gyrations. Bassist and vocalist Tilly Harris powered around the stage and sang her heart out. Drummer Dan Matthew seemingly had a smile on his face the whole set long, and was singing along to most of the songs, despite not having a microphone. Their spirit’s urge to play their hearts out subdued the corporeal desire to sleep. It surely could not go unnoticed that their non-jet lagged opener, 2nd Grade, had just as much energy and enthusiasm in their performance. Equally matched stage mates.
The Bug Club played for about an hour, ripping through their catalog with gusto and verve. Harris concluded nearly every song, to applause, with a charming “cheers!” Their seemingly lo-fi album presence is greatly contrasted with their live energy. Even one of their managers, at the merchandise table before the show, suggested they were likely better live than on their recordings. Though their quick paced songs like “The Fixer” kept their energy flowing to the crowd, some highlights were when they drew back. E.g., while playing “If My Mother Thinks I’m Happy,” there was space for Harris to play a precise and effective bass solo.
On “My Baby Loves Rock & Roll Music,” the group taps into something special, like they know some secret unreleased song from Loaded era Velvet Underground. Another clear highlight was “Going Down.” The performance, faithful to the recorded version, sees Willmett playing devastatingly beautiful guitar chords, and the band applying their signature soft-loud technique, including (to this audience) an unexpected pause. The Bug Club have a talent at creating what could perhaps be called sonically chiaroscuro pop-rock music.
The band rounded out their main set (before a raucous encore) with their recent single “Picture This,” and concluded with “Suck It.” “Picture This” is a nearly eight-minute musical odyssey demonstrating the band’s best talents. In some ways, this is one of the contrasts they have with 2nd Grade. Whereas the Philly group plays very brief songs, the Welsh group has much more extended songs. These choices diminish neither group but reinforce the concept of this perfectly paired billing—the crowd got a bit of both. With “Suck it,” The Bug Club finished their main set with that chiaroscuro technique in a quiet-loud punk-paced form. Surely some of the crowd was astonished, after hearing multiple times from the band they were tired, that they completed this song with such pace and then dashed into a two-song encore, where Matthew was unleashed on the drum kit.
Ahead of a quick-paced rendition of “The Fixer,” Harris mentioned it was one of their standards “back home,” but that they don’t really have any standards in America, because this was their first ever show in the country. Well, here’s to wishing them many more returns to the U.S. where they certainly will create fan favorites.
This pairing was perfect not just because both bands played with enthusiasm and pop rock positivity. Yes, those things, but also, somehow, they manage to get the audience feeling uplifted by the end of their sets. Their enthusiasm is transferred to the listener/audience member. That positive contagion spreads rapidly and subconsciously begs the listener to come back for repeat viewings. We can only hope they get to play together again.
2nd Grade
2nd Grade
The Bug Club
The Bug Club