Photographs by John Carlow
June 19th, 2015
An enthusiastic crowd packed Sugar for a full card of local talent with Seattle’s Thunderpussy headlining.
Transitioning nicely with fast sets and strikes, the five bands served up a melting pot of blues, grunge, country and “nail ’em to the floor” rock-influenced sets. It was my first time seeing most of these bands. Malahat really tore up the stage. It was an experience watching Ben Smith slay guitar for two sets — he was to rejoin One Night Stand later in the evening.
Taking the stage to the fanfare of 2001: A Space Odyssey, beers held high, One Night Stand ripped into a lively set. With some lineup changes and new material, ONS ramped up the crowd for Thunderpussy.
Minus Lena Simon, the Seattle band cranked up a bluesy-inspired growl, salt and peppered with smoke and sex. Get out the bullwhip and you have Thunderpussy (the whip was brought out later in the show).
All in all a memorable night, wrapping up just shy of 2:00 am. I’m glad I remembered the earplugs, I managed to avoid the glitter shower courtesy of the “pussy girls” (a term I overheard a few times that night), and I definitely had to rinse the beer glue off the soles of my shoes when I got home.
Part of a successful night of live music is leaving knowing you want to see the musicians again. I’ll definitely be doing that.