Photo by Jessica Pace
No one knows what a show is until about 9 p.m., which is why there were only a few people at Mercy Lounge to see how far White Buffalo Woman has come (particularly on guitar) since they formed. Saturday was day one of Nobody’s Vault But Mine, a two-day event in its second year created by and celebrating fans and vault members of Third Man Records. I can only vouch for day one, but it was exciting and vaulty, even though White Buffalo Woman switched from drippy blues bellows to fuzzy and fast before a very small crowd. Too bad for latecomers; the openers covered Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting Around to Die” which was pretty cool, in addition to their own, including “This Town,” just finished the previous Monday. The sun went down to the Turncoats’ stylish and sometimes sloppy garage and blues set, which included their own gem “Rosemary’s Twist” and the White Stripes’ “The Denial Twist.” Hell yes. And by the time The Ettes were up, the crowd had thickened.
Perhaps my eardrums are just blown out, but it was hard to decipher Coco’s pinched acidic squeal between songs, but whatever; the ambiguity vanished as they hacked out 12 fast garage and bubblegum punk numbers. Lots of bass. Then Chapel Hill rockabilly vets and Third Man artists Dex Romweber Duo mixed bits of Elvis and Johnny Cash and poured it out onstage through the simple guitar and drum combination. Stripped, yes, but also vaguely haunting and just damn good, with Dex on guitar and sister Sara on the set behind him. Credited as a significant inspiration to Jack White, they banged out their Third Man release, “The Wind Did Move,” and Dex did a few solo numbers including “Homicide” and “Death of Me.”
There couldn’t have been a better end to the night than Jacuzzi Boys closing up with a sour and somehow animalistic set full of scuzzy guitars, thundering bass and an obnoxious amount of vocal reverb (reverb reverb). Judging from their style, I don’t think they know it’s not the early ’90s, but they do know a lot about musicianship and having a f**k-ton of energy. Appropriately, D. Watusi could be seen exuberantly head-bobbing in the front row. – Jessica Pace