L.A. Witch, Tremours and Triptides Rock Portland’s Mississippi Studios With Originality & Fuzz (SHOW REVIEW)

Portland’s Mississippi Studios was in for a psychedelic treat on Thursday, Jan. 27, when a caravan of three bands arrived from Los Angeles on their current west coast tour. Headliners L.A. WITCH brought along a couple of bands from their hometown, relatively new scenesters Tremours, as well as the laid-back power trio, Triptides. The Portland date was the second of the current tour, a jolly three-state adventure featuring all three bands.

Tremours had the opening slot and took to the stage shortly after 8 pm. The duo consists solely of two musicians, Lauren Andino on guitar/moog/vocals, and Glenn Fryatt on drums and percussion. Andino, a musician recently added as an L.A. WITCH touring member, began composing material and forming what would become Tremours during the past year.

These tour dates are the band’s maiden voyage. With subtle electronic assistance from her Moog, Andino layered staggered guitar melodies, which with Fryatt’s concise rhythms, created a hypnotic sonic journey. The guitar tone from the Fender Jazzmaster, combined with the choice of effects and cabinet, allowed for successful transportation to reverb wonderland. The vocals were buried underneath the music at times, if only due to Lauren Andino’s singing voice, which was almost a whisper. The soft, wispy vocal delivery was otherwise an ideal fit for the music and an appealing trademark to the band’s sound. The band surprisingly played mostly original material, with the exception of the sole cover of “On The Wall” by The Jesus And Mary Chain. They performed just over thirty minutes with a set consisting of the following songs:

Tremours Setlist

The Ribbon

On The Wall (Jesus and the Mary Chain cover)

Burn To Today

Affectations

Port Children

Dark Glasses

Triptides handled the middle slot of the evening, their soaring harmonies and infectious grooves sandwiched deliciously between the dark and atmospheric sounds of the other bands on the bill. The power trio of Triptides is Glenn Brigman on guitar and lead vocals, Stephen Burns on bass and backing vocals, and drummer Brendan Peleo-Lazar.

With a solid decade worth of recorded material to dig from, the boys from LA sold any new ears in Portland on their newfound take on old-time, feel-good rock n’ roll. Roaring through a no-frills set of incredibly well-played original material, the band transcended any expectations, supported by dazzling lighting effects from visual artist Ryne Freed, who provided visual magic for all three bands. While Freed reserved mainly dual color tones for the two bookend bands, he let loose for the Triptides set, enveloping the stage with all colors of the spectrum.

The trio wrapped their performance, much to the dismay of the grateful Portland crowd, sending a hungry group to the merch table in search of a Triptides record to buy. Signed to LA-based Curation Records, the Triptides have a new single and accompanying video, “Highway Sun,” released on Feb 4. The song is from the band’s upcoming LP entitled, So Many Days.

Triptides Setlist

It Won’t Hurt You

Fate

Blow Away

Highway Sun

Nirvana

Revelation Blues

Hole In Your Mind

Elemental Chemistry

Hand Of Time

Keeping with schedule, the gals of L.A. WITCH graced the Mississippi Studios stage just after 10 o’clock. It’s worth noting that the drum kit was set stage left, in the far corner, as it was for all three bands. Mississippi Studios is a fantastic space with incredible acoustics, and the in-house engineer had the sound dialed in.

The band wasted no time, diving into the opening track “Kill My Baby Tonight” from their first album Play With Fire. The lilting bass lines provided by bassist Irita Pai quickly lulled the energized crowd into a hypnotized frenzy, balanced perfectly against the click track-perfect beats of drummer Ellie English. Lead singer and guitarist Sade Sanchez was engaged and fed off the energy of the audience, as made apparent by her stage banter, which made it obvious she was enjoying herself.

L.A. Witch played a solid set of all original songs and one cover, lasting just over an hour. Comprised of a solid distribution of songs from their two LPs, the band featured the cover song “Ghost On The Highway” (The Gun Club) from their recently released shared 7” with the Coathangers on the flipside. Additionally, they played “Heart Of Darkness” from their EP Octubre as the first of two encores. Normally a trio, L.A. Witch has added fourth touring member Lauren Andino for the second tour in a row. The addition of a second guitarist has added a new welcome element to the band and fills out the band’s sound alongside Sanchez’s signature, captivating tone. Again, the visuals provided by mad light alchemist, Ryne Freed, were exceptional and a throwback to the Joshua Light shows of the 1960s. The overall evening was an enormous success, with positive vibes and smiles (behind masks) abound.