Before the electric guitars, before the bass, before even the drums, vocalist and guitarist Travis Shettel of the beloved Boston-based emo band Piebald opened the band’s set Tuesday night Space Ballroom alone, with a quiet rendition of Mel Tormé’s and Bob Wells’s classic “The Christmas Song.” It was a small moment of calm in a night filled with raging rock. But in the sincerity of its emotions, and its connection with the audience, it fit right in.
Tuesday night’s all-ages show saw three bands rage across the stage at the Hamden club, drawing a healthy crowd of friends of truly all ages — and, apparently, longtime Piebald fans — who were there to have a party. They’d come to the right place.
Fist up was the Connecticut-based American Thrills, with Kurt on vocals and guitar, Paul on guitar, Jamie on bass, and Jeff on drums, who rampaged through a set of muscular originals that combined Kurt’s piercing vocals, Paul’s thick guitar lines, and a pounding rhythm section to set the bar high for the rest of the evening.
“Thanks for coming out early,” Kurt said with appreciation. “Make some noise!” In giving thanks to Manic Productions for booking them as openers, Kurt mentioned that one of the first shows he’d ever gone to had been an all-ages Manic show. “I’m really glad he still does these kinds of shows,” Kurt said. In between songs, he also bantered easily with audience members.
“Who’s got work tomorrow?” he asked, and received cheers. “You are the most punk rock people,” he replied.
“You’re working right now!” someone called back.
“Is this my job?” he said, with self-depreciation. “Man, I wish!” But on another level, American Thrills understood that they indeed had a job to do — warming up the crowd for even more rock to come — and they performed it well.
The New Haven-based Split Coils — Jay Russell on vocals and guitar, Katelyn Russell on vocals and percussion, Mike Sembos on guitar, Joe Ballaro on bass, and Jon Serbo on drums — next brought a set of their own originals that broadened the evening’s musical palette. Centered on the vocal harmonies of the Russells (who are wife and husband), the Split Coils used their voices, lush guitars, and wide, expansive grooves to create the kind of sound that felt like a road movie even as they gave the club the vibe the audience wanted.
In between songs Jay was full of gratitude. “Give it up for American Thrills!” he said. “They destroyed. It goes to show how much I know about Connecticut music. I didn’t even know about them. Now I know.” He was thankful to the club for being able to play a song during “a weird time,” and made a sincere request of the audience.
“Be nice to each other,” he said — even people we might not get along with. “I think we’re heading down a slippery slope. Actually, I think we’re already down it. Be nice! Who’s got time to be negative?” But humor was never far behind, as he added, “look at me. All my songs are depressing, but I am super-positive.” It garnered a healthy laugh from the audience. He was also selling his songs short. Even if the lyrics spoke of hardship, the music itself, with its soaring melodies and swinging rhythms, was always, in the end, about hope.
The club was by then full of fans ready to see Piebald — in addition to Shettel, Aaron Stewart on guitar, Andrew Bonner on bass, and Luke Garro on drums — who had formed in 1994, broke up in 2008, reunited briefly in 2010, and then more permanently in 2016, collecting fans all along the way. Those fans were fully plugged in at the Space Ballroom on Tuesday, singing along to nearly every word from the first song to the end of the set.
“You are awesome!” Shettel said. “Two songs in and I feel like we’re almost done. Okay, this is our last song,” he joked. The audience laughed, knowing more was in store. Piebald then delivered a long set of songs that showcased the band’s facility with tricky tempo and meter changes, shifting textures, and twisting riffs, all in the service of playing searing rock songs that were big on observation and emotion.
Riffing off of Jay Russell’s statement of positivity, Shettel declared that they had “10 minutes of scheduled negativity. Time to get our bad attitude on. I am so sorry in advance that we did this to ourselves.” That, of course, was a joke, as was his introduction to a brief set of acoustic numbers, which he undersold as a downer but which actually let the band switch up its sound even more than it already had.
They returned to electric instruments to tear through a version of “Feliz Navidad” that led seamlessly back to their own material, culminating in a song close to the end of the set in which Shettel sang, “all I want for Christmas is to rage with my friends.” Judging by the exuberant response from the crowd, it appeared that he got his wish.
