Cloud Nothings, Speedy Ortiz @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

by Kate Hoos | Nov 29, 2022

Cloud Nothings at Music Hall of Williamsburg (photo by Kate Hoos)

Attack on Memory, the 2012 album by Cloud Nothings, is one of those albums I can’t help but listen to front to back each and every time; it is not casual listening or random songs on a playlist material. So you can imagine I was more than delighted to see them play the album in full (and in order which is always my preferred way to see album anniversary shows) during their recent stop at Music Hall of Williamsburg to celebrate the album’s ten year anniversary.

Led by singer/guitarist, Dylan Baldi, the long running outfit had everyone in the room fixed and locked through the duration of the album and through the several other tracks they played, with a healthy selection from 2014’s Here And Nowhere Else and a sprinkling of songs from 2010’s Turning On, 2017’s Life Without Sound and 2021’s The Shadow I Remember. The encore hit me like a one-two punch, the pairing of the buzzsaw bass led “Pattern Walks” and the fervent “I’m Not Part of Me,” washing over me like a warm wave; they are my favorite non AoM songs. But the absolute highlight of the evening was hearing “Wasted Days” played live. The line I THOUGHT I WOULD BE MORE THAN THIS was every bit the emotional knockout I expected it to be and I loved the extended and improvised noisy breakdown in the middle, different and more chaotic than what is on the recorded version.

I would be remiss if I also didn’t give specific praise to drummer Jason Gerycz who is an absolute monster on the kit—and the best kind, the kind that gets it done without flashy bells and whistles or a giant setup, but rather with a three piece kit, one crash cymbal, hi-hats and a killer set of chops. In my opinion, that’s the mark of a truly great drummer, being able to add so much to any given song with a basic setup (Sorry not sorry ghost of Neil Peart). And I loved how they had him positioned out front so he was close to the audience. There is nothing like the sound of some 1970s Vistalites and the tremendous crack of a metal Ludwig snare, you just can’t beat it for high intensity rock n roll. As a fellow drummer, I for sure felt each and every one of Gerycz’s snare hits and hyper drive fills deep in my soul.

Jason Gerycz

The show was opened by Rosali who I unfortunately missed (thanks Manhattan traffic!) and direct support came from Philadelphia based band Speedy Ortiz. Led by Sadie DuPuis (who later took the Paqui hot chip challenge on stage), the high energy outfit was the perfect pairing for Cloud Nothings. And if we’re talking great drummers, I can’t not mention fellow southpaw drummer, Joey Doubek, who is just an absolute spitfire on the kit. I had seen him play with Downtown Boys before but this was my first time seeing Speedy Ortiz (which surprises me just as much, actually) and wow, what a great addition to an already great band.

There can be no Wasted Days when there are rock n roll days and that’s a fact.

Scroll down for setlist, pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)

Setlist: Attack on Memory- No Future/No Past, Wasted Days, Fall In, Stay Useless, Separation, No Sentiment, Our Plans, Cut You ||| Enter Entirely, A Longer Moon, Now Hear In, Only Light, Psychic Trauma, Modern Act. Encore: Pattern Walks, I’m Not Part of Me, Can’t Stay Awake.

SPEEDY ORTIZ

CLOUD NOTHINGS

Cloud Nothings @ Elsewhere

by Ray Rusinak | Aug 30, 2021

Cloud Nothings at Elsewhere (photo by Ray Rusinak)

Cleveland, Ohio’s indie/punk rock outfit, Cloud Nothings, brought their current midwest/northeast tour to Bushwick (yes, contrary to what you might have heard at the show, Elsewhere is in Bushwick, NOT Ridgewood) on Saturday night and as anyone who follows the band would expect, it was a night filled with loud guitars, pulsating bass and pounding drums.

Led by guitarist and lead vocalist, Dylan Baldi, Cloud Nothings played an hour long set dominated with songs ranging from Attack On Memory’s “Fall In,” “Wasted Days,” and “Stay Useless,” to selections from all three of their pandemic LPs. Yes you read that correctly, THREE releases during pandemic. And that’s not even counting the monthly set of four tracks that the band has been sending out to their Patreon subscribers. Two of the three releases, Life Is Only One Event and Black Hole Understands were Bandcamp exclusives; The third release, The Shadow I Remember, which was released back in February on Carpark Records, is available on Spotify. Not surprisingly the bulk of the set was composed of songs from this latest release, with the band ripping into new songs such as “Oslo,” “Only Light,” and “The Room It Was.” Baldi, lead guitarist Chris Brown, bassist TJ Duke and drummer Jason Gerycz had the crowd moshing and singing along like these were classics that they’ve been rocking out to for years instead of mere months since their release.

And speaking of Jason Gerycz, while Cloud Nothings is clearly Dylan Baldi’s band, I was absolutely fixated throughout the show watching Gerycz and what he was able to accomplish behind his drum kit. While this is not meant as any kind of insult to any of the other band members, but I’m not sure if Cloud Nothings would be the Cloud Nothings without Jason’s incessant pounding of the skins to guide the way.

Jason Gerycz

The band ended up finishing off the night (there was no encore, despite the crowd relentlessly screaming for “ONE MORE” long after the house lights went up) with their show stopping staple, “Wasted Days.” For the finale they brought out the guitarist of opening band, Manus (who I unfortunately missed), to add a little more guitar bravado to what is always an opus to guitar heaviness to begin with. The crowd filled room ate it up to no end with the sea of bodies flowing back and forth like the waves of the ocean during high tide.

I doubt anyone left Elsewhere on Saturday disappointed. Hopefully the band will make their way back to these parts after they conclude this current tour which will take them to the south and west before they head over to Europe early next year.

Scroll down to see more pics from the show (photos by Ray Rusinak)