During his powerful but intimate set Thursday night, Kyle Trocolla introduced a song he was covering by saying that he had made a promise to the world that this year he would sing songs written by powerful women.
“Fuck misogyny,” he said.
The room, mostly full of men, responded with resounding cheers and approval. Thus the tone was set on a night when the talk of the crowd was mostly one of fatigue and frustration with politics and the status quo. It was the first night of The Not So Far From Home Tour, a bill shared by three acoustic punk acts that would include a different closing act at each stop over the next four days.
Thursday night’s show at Three Sheets featured Reverend Todd Seely, Kyle Trocolla, Jeremy Zombii, and Wolf Harbor — the only band playing this night of the tour.
Karen Ponzio Photo
Reverend Todd — the only non-local act —made himself and the crowd comfortable immediately with his barefoot stomping and urgent guitar work, which backed up his whiskey-tinged lyrics to songs such as “If I Die From This Drinking.” He mentioned that he was from the “great state of New Hampshire. Live free or die,” a statement the audience agreed with hungrily.
He also dedicated a song by GG Allin, “Liquor Slicked Highway,” to his tour mates, and the mutual appreciation was palpable. When the set was over, Reverend Todd was no longer a stranger to New Haven, but a welcomed new friend.
Kyle Trocolla was next to the stage, bringing a strong and intricate guitar style that easily married his powerful and passionate vocals. Dedicating one of his songs to an audience member, he mentioned that if you bought his CD you would see that he liked songs “with big conflict resolution. It’s all about hope.”
He talked enthusiastically about the tour, anticipating with pleasure the next four days with his friends, who all responded similarly. The crowd responded as if they had been invited along too.
Jeremy Zombii, who took the stage next, echoed Trocolla. “This is the first night of our tour, and it’s fucking exciting,” he said. His tour mates, as well as a number of audience members, sang along to many of his songs, including a cover of Lil Jon’s “Get Low,” which was met with many smiles and even a little dancing. Original songs like “Intoxicated” and “Bottom of the Bottle” solidified his description of his music as “whiskey-fueled acoustic folk punk”, and by the end of the set he was joined by not only Kyle for part of a song, but also by members of the Blasphemy Boys for a full song.
Wolf Harbor closed the show with a sleigh-bell stomping, guitar-and-bass heavy, cajón backed beat. A four-piece New Haven band made up of Jesse LaBranche on guitar and vocals, Bobby Dyckman on guitar and vocals, Mike Voyce on bass, and Dom Gubernat on cajón, Wolf Harbor describes its music as “jangly nomadic Americana punk vibes.” They also sang songs of drinking and love, bringing a tight yet playful exuberance to them all — including the song “Mad Love,” which LaBranche mentioned was available for free on Bandcamp. The four barely stopped in between songs, and by the last one Jesse was off his stool and on his feet.
After the set was over, Voyce jokingly mentioned that the band was “less scary” when they played acoustic sets. In the current climate of the world, less scary seemed like a fine way to spend a Thursday evening sharing whiskey and warm musical embraces with friends.
The Not So Far From Home Tour plays in Middletown, N.Y. on Jan. 27, Salem, Ma. on Jan. 28, and Danbury, Ct. on Jan. 29.
