Drenched in Nihilist lethargy and exhaustion of May working in the Food Industry, I would best in a mood be described as abbreviated. I went there to the Screaming Females, a bit stoned. On a misty Monday at ONCE, rapt in my own disillusionment I waited through OZLO and was nicely surprised by their thrash approach, but their music came off as equally restrained. Their songwriting has room for maturation, though I wouldn’t necessarily avoid seeing Ozlo again, it would probably be my fourth time… especially if they were on a Screaming Females bill.
On a chance encounter with Marissa Paternoster, I let her pass through a threshold as I was going out to smoke a spliff around the corner. She smiled, and this is what left the largest impression on me after the show. That and all facets of her songwriting are as provocative and wild as her hair. ONCE filled. All eyes were on her as she seamlessly moved up and down her guitar, in and out of tunings, timing and signature songs with equal force and energy. This performance oozed a sorrow of a kind that not everyone in the room may have understood. The band and maybe a few people in the crowd grasp the true essence of The Screaming Female’s Music. To me, they replaced my disillusionment with the understanding and acceptance of sorrow. Maybe it was the weather, the mood I was in– this was a revitalizing performance. I went home and played my guitar.
Seeing the Screaming Females was akin to a self-actualization at a funeral, but in the most surreal way. Marissa Paternoster endlessly humble and kind, reawakens the mundane and kitsch, to a level all of her own. Her rhythm section tight and mysterious as ever are part indie legends, part 60’s jam band plastered across her lightning performance. Never Tired, the dynamism of their act is as inspiring as it is unique in an age where complexity and aesthetic are confused. With the Screaming Females, there is no Confusion. The crowd was diverse and there was a perpetual positive energy that the entire room fed from for an act that could catch anyone’s eye.
video shot by Terry Lorber
