Fresh from their appearance at SXSW and a packed week of NYC gigs, Telegram blazed, marched and paraded through a set of tightly wound, well-conceived, and – it must be said – extraordinarily loud songs at Pianos on Thursday, March 24. As a Brit myself I was heartened when the band, with their British accents and modest entourage, quietly streamed into the audience to catch the end of opening act Stephen Babcock and have a Stella or two.
I mention their entrance to the room, before they even got on stage, because their noticeability in a crowded room is pretty relevant: these guys, with leather tightly fitted and hair impressively styled, properly look like they are in a band. Once they are on stage, photographer Thom McKenna says to me, grinning: ‘One of the most English things I have ever seen.’ I agree, only to be caught off guard by the accent of frontman Matt Saunders as he introduces the band after their second song: ‘We’re from London’, he says, but his voice is not. A furrowed brow and a Google search later I confirm that Matt is, in fact, Welsh. It was the first of many times last night that my expectations were subverted by Telegram.
Telegram hurtled through their first couple of songs with bold assurance, gain-soaked instruments and a touch, I think it is fair to say, of glam-rock styling. It is tempting to lump Telegram in with a troupe of other ‘new psych bands’, as the Guardian did back in 2014, and as I had mentally done before even arriving at the show. But their third track of the night, ‘Inside/Outside’, with the its syncopated hi-hats and danceable snare cracks sharply glimmering through the mid-range overdrive, sets Telegram apart by the distinctiveness of their instruments and their musicianship. It cannot be overstated quite how loud the set was – one hopes for their sake that Matt, Pip, Moon and Cook wear ear-plugs on stage – but loudness does not equate to a hot mess. The guitar playing got pretty relentless at times, but it was always precise, with the rhythm often only hitting punchy downstrokes and the lead reverberating, echoing, and not ever, to my ear, muffling a note.
The bassist, Moon, is normally at the sonic frontier of the band’s sound. This is the case with their cover of Bowie’s ‘Heroes’. The bass is the backbone of the cover, and it does not fail to please the audience. The cover may well have been the highlight of the evening, which is no bad thing; nonetheless, it does make me wonder what it is about the song that makes it stand out just slightly above the rest of the band’s set. Perhaps it is the sheer spaciousness of ‘Heroes’, the way it demands that whoever is playing it give it room to breathe. Telegram’s sound can occasionally get so intense that they miss opportunities to let melodies expand, for ideas to soar and grow, as they instead move swiftly on to the next raging chord. As Telegram moves forward, I wonder if they will try to make room for more of whatever it is they managed to capture in that Bowie cover.
On Friday, March 25th, Telegram played at Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium. I am jealous of anyone who could make it and catch this forceful and impressive band on their last evening in New York City. Here’s hoping they return soon.
The absence of an opening act was evident as it took several songs before the crowd matched the energy level of the music being pumped out of the Marshall stacks. Though, with the 25-song setlist clocking in at 3 hours with a 20 minute intermission, it is debatable if an opening act was even feasible.
Then of course there was Buddy Guy, who was doing his thing before Jimi was doing Jimi’s thing. And at 79 years old, Buddy continues to do it. Buddy delivered gritty, witty lyrics in “Louisiana Blues”, and backed them up with shredding solos that reinvigorated the crowd that had started to look at their watches (not out of boredom, but disbelief and exhaustion). There is something about watching an elder statesman ripping through scales with the speed and feel that most guitarists will never know, it gives folks the energy to cheer just a little louder, a little longer.
Leaving the venue, I noted that instead of hearing conversations that started with “I wish they had played…”, what I heard mostly was “I can’t believe they played…” as the crowd was clearly pleased with how deep they dug into Jimi’s catalog. Much like a congregation after mass, those leaving the Landmark Theater appeared to be uplifted, fulfilled, and spiritually satiated, thanks to the service at The Electric Church.
On March 3rd, the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio fell under siege to the trio of metal bands. A long line of 
It’s always refreshing to see women, dominating the stage in the metal world and that’s just what the Butcher Babies did. With their their aggressive stage attire and vocals, the band’s frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey kept the crowd screaming. Backed by Henry Flury on guitar, Jason Klein on Bass and Chrissy Warner on drums, the band played songs from their 2015 album, “Take It Like A Man.”