Karen Ponzio Photo
He Was A God
“Are you sick and tired?” screamed Ben Curns of the band He Was A God, with his arms raised to the audience. They answered in a chorus that turned up the volume of an already thunderous and thoroughly entertaining atmosphere at Cafe Nine last night where three bands, each one distinctly different from the other but similar in approach, delivered a Thursday full of hot and heavy sounds.
The bill consisted of 49 Feet High, a duo from Bridgeport, King Dutch, hailing from New York, and the aforementioned He Was A God, New Haven’s own. The audience, much like the volume, built steadily for the bands as the night went on, filling the musician’s living room with a crowd ready to rock into the weekend.
First to the stage was 49 Feet High, made up of Andrew White on guitar and vocals and Joe Covino on drums. Covino sat on the edge of the stage in a bathrobe reading a newspaper before heading to his set, in his own way symbolizing how some of us were finally breaking free of our hiatus from live shows and heading back into the glorious fray. The two rocked out to both originals and covers, including a heavier than usual “Come Together” by the Beatles “Cars” from Gary Numan, for which they welcomed guest Bobby Roberts on synth. Originals included “Speak” from their October 2020 EP of the same name and “Chemicals” from their most recent EP of the same name. They created enough sound as a duo to fill the room, as if there were at least three more of them. The audience cheered them on as they aptly warmed everyone up for the rest of the night ahead.
The place kept getting hotter with King Dutch. “It sounds great in here,” announceed vocalist/bassist Ryan, as he noted it was the band’s first time playing at Cafe Nine. He traded off and shared lead vocals with guitarist Caleb, unafraid to bring a softer tone to a few parts of songs but always bringing it back to the pounding beats and onslaught of guitars aided by drummer Aaron and guitarist Cyril.
“We’re King Dutch. We play original grunge. No love songs,” Ryan told the audience after a song called “Giant,” which he said he wrote on ukulele, “but we decided to do it a little different.” That song was as big as its subject and kept true to the band’s credo.
They also played their newest release, “Black and the Red,” released last week and the subject of an animated video that Ryan said was coming out soon. Shades of the Seattle sound echoed through the room and the crowd responded with cheers, and even sang along to the band’s final song, “Child of the Gods,” with Ryan’s guidance and encouragement. The band looked like they were having as much fun as the audience, and there was still more to come.
The final act of the night, He Was A God, filled the stage with its five members — Ben Curns on vocals, Tony Pellino on guitar and vocals, Ray Zvovushe on guitar, Dan Perrone on bass, and Chris Densky on drums — and then proceeded to unleash a torrent of charismatic heavy metal with a message. As fun as it was furious, their set included all originals, including three songs from their newest EP, The Smile and the Scar, released this past December, much to the delight of the crowd, who moved closer to the stage to revel in the sounds.
The band was not afraid to make a statement. Curns talked about “multibillionaires who build toy spaceships” before launching into the song “Escape Plan,” and the Hulu series Dopesick that puts the spotlight on the opioid crisis before the song “Track Marks.” Each and every song came at the audience powerfully hard, and felt, in its own way, healing. Many of us have been internally screaming for months, even years. Curns let it out for us all.
Nowhere was that more apparent than with the band’s final song, “Two New Stars,” which Curns said was about “loss and fighting your way through that loss.” Sometimes it is best to grieve and heal together, and to do it as loud as possible.
