After Winter of ’74’s last show, I was unsure of the band and how they would fair after original drummer Tim Smith left to run Bettye Jane’s Fashion Exchange and former Elaine drummer Daniel Keyser picked up the sticks.
Keyser’s first show with the band was an OK one, but it felt odd because his style was different from Smith’s. Last Friday, I made my way to the Hideaway to see if Winter of ’74 had gotten any tighter, and to see former Winter of ’74 drummer Smith sit in with The Growth.
The Growth took the stage and it automatically made me flashback to this summer’s Sonic Youth concert where the opening bands Double Leopards and the Magik Markers did nothing but make weird random noise with their instruments.
Throughout their 30-minutes set The Growth banged their guitars, made more noise with pedals than I had seen in a year, and looped other noises from a computer. Throughout this collage of noise, Smith did as he always does and went balls out on the drums, and their bassist actually played clever bass lines though the set. * * /4
After my ears stopped ringing, Winter of ’74 took the stage to play yet another gig at the Hideaway.
Immediately I noticed that both singer/guitarist Drew Montgomery and bassist Drew Arblaster had on T-shirts with the word “daddy” on it. I later found out that both Montgomery and Arblaster and expecting fathers, and that their wives’ due dates are just a day apart.
Winter of ’74 then began to play and blew away any doubt that I had about Keyser.
They opened with a new song titled “Feel Asleep @ The Wheel” that was more uptempo than anything I have heard them play in the past. The song reminded me of a Muse song with Arblaster’s rhythmical bass line and Montgomery and second guitarist Chris Mitchell’s obstreperous guitars.
They then immediately broke into “My Room,” and Keyser continued to pound the drums furiously.
Winter of ’74 continued through their set playing every song with near perfection. The only flaw was Montgomery’s voice was not at its peak because he was sick, but they did their best to mask the problem with Mitchell singing backup vocals and sing alongs from the crowd.
Winter of ’74 then ended their set with “The Start” where Montgomery sang “Blame It On the Radio.” * * * * 1/4

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