Brian Slattery Photos
Cabins, East!
On Wednesday three rock bands — Cabins, East!, Pyramid Rose Band, and headliner Laney Jones — brought loud guitars, driving drums, strong vocals, and a lot of heart to a rapturous audience at Cafe Nine, in a night that hearkened back to pre-pandemic days of casual abandon while adding a healthy dose of post-pandemic compassion and care.
Early in the set for the New Haven-based band Cabins, East!, vocalist and guitarist Jett Moxley explained that “the last time we were supposed to play here was the first day Cafe Nine shut down. This is our triumphant return.” Moxley may have meant it as a self-deprecating joke, but the music was indeed worth the wait. The trio (Cabins, East! is usually a four-piece, but tonight was missing a member) performed a set of originals that were loaded with hooks, interesting textures, and big emotions. Jeff Gerrish on drums kept the songs moving while also unfurling ornate curlicues of rhythm from the kit. Guitarist Andrew Collis used his instrument to create lush soundscapes and jagged lead lines in equal measure. Moxley’s own guitar playing filled out the sound further, while her powerful voice filled the entire club. The effect was transfixing; anyone who had come to the club to talk to a friend was instead pulled in by the band’s dramatic, driving, and often unabashedly beautiful songs.
“In keeping with the theme of the evening,” Moxley said toward the end of the set, “this song is about empathy fatigue.” But there were still so many feelings in the music. The crowd gave Cabins, East! rousing applause, and Moxley responded by blowing kisses back, an apt end to a heartfelt, smart, and uplifting performance.
The New Haven-based Pyramid Rose Band — Greg Moran on guitar and vocals, Mark Almodovar on bass, and Sam Carlson on drums — was short on patter between songs (“Happy Wednesday,” Moran said to begin the band’s set) but long on musicianship. The trio started with a slow burn for its first song, one that showed the band’s muscular sense of rhythm. Then, song by song, the band built up energy, arriving at a solid rock ‘n’ roll sound in which Moran’s big guitar sound and twisting vocals danced over Almodovar’s deep bass and Carlson’s steady, supple drums. Toward the end of the set, the band found a heavy groove and dug in. The tempo slowed but the energy climbed higher. The crowd ate it up.
With the room thoroughly warmed up, the way was clear for the Nashville-based Laney Jones to grab hold of the audience and keep them for an hour of originals that doled out gritty rock and lyrics that spoke of fun and compassion in equal measure.
“What’s up you dirty dogs?” she said, and in her first song, flooded the room with charisma. As a performer, Jones never stopped either smiling or snarling, except when she lost herself in the energy of the music, bringing the crowd right along with her. The audience pressed closer and closer to the stage as the set progressed and she, Brian Dowd on drums, and Jeff Ratner on bass rampaged through the material.
In between songs, her banter swung between hilarity and heart. Hilarity: “We’re from Orlando and you guys are so simpatico,” she said. “I mean, the IQ is probably a little higher.”
“Here or there?” Dowd quipped.
Heart: “It’s so nice to see people enjoying our tunes,” Jones said. “It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about us. So rock ‘n’ roll, man.” But humor was never far behind. “It’s also about tuning my guitar,” she added.
She fell further under the spell of the music as the set went on, and the audience followed her. The strength of the songs and her disarming performance created an emotional space that felt raw and fun and vulnerable all the same time. It ended on a sweet, quiet note, as Jones left the stage to sit on Cafe Nine’s bar with a saw. Dowd joined her on guitar, and she sang one last song to the assembled crowd, who were utterly silent until the last note faded, then broke into raucous cheering.
