The Velveteers have certainly reached an interesting crossroads in their career on the eve, as it were, of their national tour opening for Greta Van Fleet following the 2021 release of their debut full-length album Nightmare Daydream. The album and its thoughtful and incisive lyrics and imaginative sound palette much expanded from its early days perhaps helped to that level with the help of Dan Auerbach’s production of the album is a creative success even if it has yet to set its performance on streaming services on fire. But this show at The Fox Theatre felt like a way to acknowledge its roots as a band from Boulder with a hometown performance before setting sail to win over the audiences of a popular buzz band operating in a loosely similar realm of rock music drawing on older blues based rock. And for the occasion the trio brought on the bill some friends from the local scene who may have emerged around the same time as The Velveteers or shortly after.
Becc from Rose Variety seemed to indulge in a string of inside jokes and references throughout the band’s set including hinting that Rose Variety had broken up or went inactive during the early years of the pandemic but that Dry Ice had asked them to open for its own first show so this quintet got things back together for the occasion. Its music sounded like a blend of shoegaze pop and psychedelic indie rock of the sort that emerged in the 2010s. The fact that the performance felt a little rough around the edges but seemed musically coherent with a strong songwriting foundation made the threads of chaos that ran through the songs and Becc’s off-the-cuff persona just added an element of excitement to the show this early on.
Dry Ice had opened for The Velveteers in November 2021 for the album release show at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood, CO but if you didn’t get there early enough you missed them as I did. But listening to the band a bit online I did not expect to see a group whose music was very tight and expertly executed and was somehow both on the shoegaze spectrum with a touch of post-punk and more than a touch of riot grrrl edge and sensibilities including the final song “Don’t I Look Cute” which bassist Olivia Booth said was about killing frat boys and even brought someone on stage who claimed to be one and theatrically did so. But that aside there is something vital and visceral about the way in which Dry Ice delivers its politically/socially aware lyrics that strikes a broad emotional resonance like an amalgam of sounds and textures like there is some jazz background in the way they seem to invoke Deerhunter, Dum Dum Girls and The Slits all at once.
The Velveteers have their sound dialed into sharp focus at this point. And while the energy is very intentional and practiced even as they seem to cut loose in the performance it still feels spontaneous like they have built into their shows the ability to indulge going off the map for periods of time so that it doesn’t get stale for them even as they deliver a strong performance. Because it can get like that when you’re in a band. How long can you sustain the excitement for yourself when you’re playing the same songs for extended periods of time and a consistent quality of performance for the many, many people you’ll see on the road that haven’t seen you several times like many fans in your hometown may have? You build into the songwriting and in the set lists and in the songs places where you can exercise spontaneity without sacrificing cohesion. And this show was an exercise in that and rock theater generally. Sure, the group has had that as part of their shows from very early on but you can see the work put in to give people a show rather than just three musicians getting up and rocking out. Demi Demitro’s combination of vulnerability and commanding, passionate vocals and thoughtful and astutely observed lyrics really set the band apart from other groups that have a rooting in the classic rock revival of the 2010s. But with Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig pushing the momentum in polyrhythmic fashion and giving the music a strong dynamic foundation the music and the show seems to reach great emotional heights. And with any good fortune this will translate well to the bigger stages The Velveteers take on what will hopefully be a successful run as impetus for another creative leap forward with its next record.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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