Within the first 30-45 seconds of experiencing Crobot live at West End Trading Company in Sanford, there were quite a few bands that came to mind: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Witch, Kyuss, and Wolfmother just to start. That’s some pretty epic company. You’ll probably notice that many of the aforementioned bands came from the “Golden Era of Rock and Roll.” Those that aren’t from that period are obviously directly influenced by this insanely talent-filled era that formed rock and roll (and influenced most other genres) as we know it.
As a musician, some of my largest influences are the same bands. Especially Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Now, while my tastes have grown considerably more progressive and experimental over time, I still have a soft spot for a good old fashioned rock band playing awesome grooves with sludgy guitar tones, emphatic bass lines, heavy drum beats, and belted-out vocals. Crobot does all of that, and then some.
It’s common these days for most bands’ frontmen to be blatantly self-involved and obnoxious, frequently without any real substance to the vocal capacity. That’s definitely not the case here. Brandon Yeagley is an ideal rock frontman. Actual singing ability coupled with comfortable crowd interaction and a freedom of self-expression that displays oneness with the music being performed. Nothing was forced or insincere. He had a direct relationship with the crowd (it was a full house) in a manner reminiscent of Robert Plant and early Ozzy.
Chris Bishop’s guitar work sets the perfect tone for this genre. It’s rhythmically solid, groovy, and grimy enough that you’d love to just stand in front of his cabinet and get lost in the tone (a la Tony Iommi). I took this picture of his rig as soon as they were done. I think it says enough on its own.
Now, when it comes to a rock band’s rhythm section, it definitely doesn’t hurt for them to be related. It hurts even less when they’re brothers. Paul Figueroa’s drumming is exactly what you’d expect from a band of this nature: solid, heavy-handed, and in all the right pockets. I could tell he grew up listening to John Bonham and Bill Ward too.
The bass is held down by Paul’s brother Jake. Held down is too reserved; let’s be more accurate and say smoothly punished instead. Jake’s performance was my favorite part of the whole show. This cat is in his own world on stage, which he co-dominates along with Brandon. Instead of using a pick, he gets more warmth by using an interesting fingering technique to bring the bottom end into the fray. Instead of the traditional fingering of the strings near the pickups, he fingers the strings on the neck at the point of the highest frets. It looks like both of his hands’ fingers are just continually rolling. It reminded me of a performance I’ve seen of John Paul Jones playing “In My Time of Dying.” And the relationship between the brothers is apparent. They seem like they’ve been playing together their whole lives. They probably have.
If you’re like me, you probably think that all of the radio rock of today sucks (and it does). The world is full of Nicklebacks, Maroon 5s, and Paramores. If you long for a time when rock was real, where bands wrote their songs, singers could actually sing, and musicians could play their instruments live, you’ll find this band refreshing. And sometimes, it’s just about having a good time … man.
Crobot Live Review by Josh Jauz.
Crobot Live Photos by Aaron Wockenfuss.
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Crobot tour dates w/ Volbeat & Anthrax:
4/24 — Denver, Colo. — 1STBANK Center
4/25 — Rapid City, S.D. — Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
4/27 — Spokane, Wash. — Spokane Arena
4/28 — Missoula, Mont. — Adams Center
4/29 — Seattle, Wash. — WaMu Theatre
5/01 — Grande Prairie, Alberta — Revolution Place
5/02 — Edmonton, Alberta — Rexall Place
5/03 — Calgary, Alberta — Calgary Stampede Corral
5/04 — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — SaskTel Centre
5/06 — Regina, Saskatchewan — Brandt Centre
5/07 — Grand Forks, N.D. — Ralph Englestad Arena
5/12 — Oshawa, Ontario — General Motors Centre
5/13 — Ottawa, Ontario — TD Place
5/14 — Quebec City, Quebec — Quebec Colisee Pepsi
5/15 — Montreal, Quebec — CEPSUM Montreal
5/18 — Saginaw, Mich. — Dow Events Center
5/19 — Evansville, Ind. — Ford Center
5/20 — Chicago, Ill. — Aragon Ballroom
5/22 — Sioux City, Iowa — Tyson IBF Events Center
5/27 — Dallas, Texas — Verizon Grand Prairie
5/28 — Houston, Texas — Bayou Music Center
5/31 — St. Louis, Mo. — Outdoors at Pop’s
6/02 — New York, N.Y. — Hammerstein Ballroom
Thanks to our Sponsors, Kingfish Records in Clearwater, FL! Check out our South Florida SIGT Website! Shows I Go To South Florida Giveaway, Reviews, Photos, and more
▼ SHOWS TO GO TO ▼
Please support our friends who support us! Tell them Shows I Go To sends love! 🙂
- The Commission Beer Chamber
- Kingfish Records (Clearwater)
- Nora's Sugar Shack!
- Park Ave CDs
- Montgomery Drive Presents
- RT-Art Printing
- The Mary Jane 'High-Quality' Art Gallery
- The Owl's Attic Vintage Shop
- Broken Strings Brewery
- American Combat Club
- Lazy Moon Pizza
- Ten10 Brewing
- Leguminati
- Mutiny Ocala
- The Tipsy Skipper
- Conrad's Beer Shanty
- AKT Shirt Printing
- Smartpunk Records & Shop
- No Clubs Presents
- DaddyKool Records
- Galactic G Skateshop
