Two Gallants mean this.
There was catharsis in watching the San Francisco guitar and drums duo perform Saturday at Great American Music Hall. The sold-out gig capped a four-night spate of Bay Area release party shows in support of We Are Undone (right), released Tuesday, the duo’s fifth studio album.
Singer and guitarist Adam Stephens delivered his vocals with fervor, yelping the words to “My Love Won’t Wait.” Later in the night, fans could see spittle as he assaulted his words. Drummer Tyson Vogel did his part, too, with his shaggy, sweaty mop of hair bobbing as he attacked his kit.
By virtue of expressing and unpacking their heart-on-the-sleeve emotional material, it gave the duo power. That power was intimacy as they made playing the Tenderloin club feel akin to watching them in their living room.
“Growing up in the city, this place has always been very close to our hearts,” Vogel said of the Great American Music Hall.
Despite being a release party show for Undone, Vogel and Stephens’ workmanlike passion made the vibe less jubilant. There was room for exploration, particularly in the new material, some of which felt the rawness of fresh road testing.
The night was not without its hiccups, too. When Vogel’s bass drum pedal broke early during “Two Days Short Tomorrow,” Stephens pressed on solo. Vogel bolted stage right and seconds later darted across behind Stephens to the stage left side before finding replacement gear in time for the next song, “Cradle Pyre.”
“No matter how professional we pretend to be, every single night, something goes wrong,” Stephens joked with the crowd.
That levity lightened the mood from what could be some of the dour poses of 2GS — the bluesy rock band, the country duo, the folk singer pair. While the likes of Americana fare such as “Steady Rollin’ ” from 2006’s What the Toll Tells drew some of the night’s most enthusiastic responses, it was the buzzy, fuzzy bluesy numbers which flexed the pair’s muscle most.
On opener “Some Trouble,” Stephens wheeled and crouched next to Vogel’s kit, seeming to improvise sections of the song, adding an air of mystery to the proceedings.
After all the noise and the raucous, it was touching to see Stephens and Vogel sharing the same microphone at the end of the night for “Broken Eyes,” whether that choice was driven by the pair’s equipment difficulties or merely a stylistic one.
Although the pair had several modes, its confidence never lacked. While one was never sure what was next from Two Gallants’ set, it was guaranteed to be delivered with conviction.
Incomplete setlist:
Some Trouble
My Love Won’t Wait
We Are Undone
Age of Assassins
Long Summer Day
Steady Rollin’
Incidental
Two Days Short Tomorrow
Cradle Pyre
[Unknown]
My Man Go
Fail Hard to Regain
Despite What You’ve Been Told
Encore
Broken Eyes
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