Words and Photos by Alder Boutin
AITA headlined a night of boisterous pop punk at Pearl Street Warehouse on Friday.
“If you ever had a friend who walked away with no explanation, this song is for you,” singer Patricia Bryan Ramón said of “Goodbye.” With a baggy t-shirt, magnetic presence, and vocal slides up to powerful high notes, Ramón reminded me of Stand Atlantic’s Bonnie Fraser. If anything, the hurt expressed in many of AITA’s songs fueled their energy. Josh Bosse was drumming with such power I thought he might bounce off his seat! Ramón fell into a lunge and mimicked playing guitar across from guitarist Elijah Busse, flipping her hair back.
Introducing AITA’s last song, “Hometown Hero”, bassist Justin Kuhl echoed Kings of The Wild Things’ earlier message about mental health – that everyone in the room mattered, and to remind friends that they do too. As a fellow Baltimore local, AITA are certainly now hometown heroes in my book.
I had a suspicion that Keep Your Secrets was going to be my new favorite band from the moment they stepped onstage. Confidence rolled off singer Malerie Gamblin, with her overalls hanging off one shoulder and silver hair cuffs hugging her braids. After “Fake.”, she joked that anyone in the crowd who wasn’t dancing was one of the “fake ass friends” admonished in the song. “Just kidding,” she admitted. “Y’all are real for being here.” Although, she did jump into the audience – twice – and got people dancing with her own infectious moves. Guitarist Jasiu Mich and drummer Matt Nguyen-Ngo joined Gamblin on vocals for a cover of Pierce the Veil’s “King For A Day,” illuminated by red lights that matched their frenetic rendition. Keep Your Secrets was giving out homemade chocolate chip cookies at the merch table – which I promise did not function as a bribe for this review, though they certainly sweetened the deal.
Old Knife brought a heavier edge, oscillating between syncopated grooves and raucous breakdowns. “Do you remember me? ‘Cause I remember you!” vocalist V.J. Hyde repeated, stepping back and forth from his microphone such that it only caught his voice in fragments. During one unreleased song, he counted up years from the 1900s, getting louder and louder until he shouted “2025!” He teased his guitar strings into croaking waterfall-like rhythms, adding layers to the band’s sound.
“I promise, we’re almost to the part where it kicks in,” declared Kings of The Wild Things singer Oscar Sobkowicz as bassist Thane Smo Jones made a heart with his hands. True to his word, the band double-timed it into the chorus of “Sokovia Won’t Be the Same Without You.” This was a bittersweet show for Kings of The Wild Things – their final one with guitarist Neal Chakrabarti, who Sobkowicz announced he would miss dearly. Sobkowicz also led the band in an impromptu verse of “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker in response to a sign behind the sound booth tracking the “Days Since Wagon Wheel” – effectively bringing the count back down to zero.
Loudspeaker Collective 