In a time when staying worried about the future has become routine, it felt nice to see folks cutting loose around town for New Year’s Eve. The Spin dispatched correspondents to a pair of shows in East Nashville where the music offered plenty to feel positive about.
Amid the colorful light displays and the thick haze from a hard-working smoke machine, Drkmttr was transformed for the Fascimile: NYE 2020 A.F. party. The couches that usually sit in the front corner were moved to create a second stage where DJs Jhenetics, Blaine Mason and Gay Vibes (aka longtime Scene contributor Seth Graves, the organizer of the show) took turns playing tunes for the pre- and post-show dance parties. The trio served up an eclectic mix of dance beats, from Ashnikko to Cher, that kept the party moving smoothly all night long.
When Kent Osborne took the stage around 10:30, Jhenetics (who regularly appears as Osborne’s DJ) collaborated from across the room. He played tracks from Osborne’s latest EP I.D.G.A.F., as well as older singles and some new ones too, while the MC fired off his bars. As always, Osborne’s stage presence was electric, and he was just as much a part of the crowd as the folks who paid the cover. He spent more time on the dance floor than on the stage, running into spectators, jumping up and down with them and calling on them to stand closer to the stage. At one point, he stood on top of a speaker shouting repeatedly “I am on the brink!” That felt like both an expression of anxiety and a reflection on Osborne’s big year in 2019, during which he played dozens of shows. We’re eagerly awaiting his forthcoming project Death to All Genres — few things feel more outdated than strict genre lines.
Rocking a metallic crown of dangly chains, Eve Maret appeared as some kind of cybernetic goddess as she stood behind her complicated setup of synthesizer modules and hanging wires. This was her first show back in Nashville since moving to California in July, and she delivered a sophisticated yet danceable performance of ambient and experimental electronic music. Throughout her show, she played bass and sang, all while masterfully controlling poppy, electronic beat compositions. Her voice constantly shifted from robotic to angelic through changing vocal effects as she sang and talked on stage. She played mostly new, yet-to-be released tracks, but there were also some songs from her 2018 album No More Running. Hopefully the new tracks mean that a new album isn’t far behind.
After her performance, Maret led the countdown to the new year, and Gay Vibes and Mason took over responsibility for keeping the party moving. (Jhenetics and Osborne had to hurry off to play another show.) There was a sizable crowd dancing in celebration of the new year; there were also plenty of folks attracted to the video game station set up on what usually serves as the main stage.
Meanwhile, over at The East Room, revelers were greeted by drag hosts Rosie Love and Portia Clinique, as well as trays of saltine crackers topped with grape jelly. The jelly crackers were to be eaten to ensure good luck in the new year, in a sticky approximation of the Spanish and Latin American tradition of eating 12 grapes. The crowd was a typically diverse group of Nashvillians and out-of-towners — one couple was visiting from Seattle, and they remarked on what they perceived as Nashville’s aversion to dancing in public spaces. As the new year and new decade approached, the music certainly encouraged dancing. You might even call it rock ’n’ roll.
Things kicked off with the folk-rumba-pop stylings of guitarist-singer Rubén Darío, singer Amaia “Cootchie Rodriguez” Agirre (who you’ll know as keyboardist and singer of Thelma and the Sleaze, who topped the bill) and percussionist Richard Harper. Darío’s songs come from a folk-pop tradition, and a couple of them were reminiscent of the psych-ish work of Uruguayan singer-guitarist Eduardo Mateo. Meanwhile, the trio pulled off a rendition of the hoary standard “Volare” — a song about taking flight in a world of blue painted on blue. Dean Martin, who took “Volare” into the charts in 1958, would have been proud.
Like Janus, we looked forward from one of recent history’s sleaziest decades, and backwards into the ooze of the McConnell-Trump-Giuliani era. Sadly, ferocious punk trio Kings of the Fucking Sea had to miss the gig, due to a family emergency. But we did get to check out Heaven Honey, led by singer and songwriter Jordan Gomes-Kuehner who moved to town from Bloomington, Ind., in August. The band, buzzed-about in the Scene’s 2019 Rock ’n’ Roll Poll, played a short set of pleasantly dreamy garage-rock-pop tunes with a splash of country around the edges.
Next up was Lady Busch, an Atlanta rock outfit who embodied the slightly skronky feel of post-British Invasion sludge rock circa 1969. Lady Busch evoked heavy rock pioneers Blue Cheer, who made a great, self-titled album in 1969. But LB’s guitar playing was fractionally atonal at key points, like Johnny Thunders and a thousand other glam-rock players who keep things loose and a little bit devolved. With technical assistance from Jason Shawhan, who was DJing between sets, they projected their lyrics on The East Room’s wall, so you could read along to songs like “Daddy’s Daddy” and “Lips Out, Tongue In.” Even if you set aside the post-set burlesque routine, everything about the group seemed designed to confront whatever your ideas of propriety might be, which was great.
With its roster for the night including ace drummers Shaylee “Snowflake” Walsh and Tiffany Minton facing each other in the back corner of the stage, Thelma and the Sleaze took over a little before midnight. Rosie and Portia led a Pledge to Sleazance (that involved putting your right hand over your heart and your left hand over your neighbor’s genitals, with permission), and Head Sleaze Lauren “L.G.” Gilbert led the band to boogie the hell down with some rock ’n’ roll. Their unique take on party rock — an elevated version of “Camaro rock” that you might call “Lamborghini rock,” following the lead of TATS’ 2019 album Fuck, Marry, Kill — is derived from the ’50s, Roy Orbison and maybe even Little Feat. Right from the top of the set, there were longtime fan favorites like “Maria,” FMK standouts like “Candy Anne” and even really new songs like “Cashmere Pussy,” which just hit the web a few days ago. The show was as genial and uninhibited as it always is. Then, the grape jelly crackers made the rounds, and it was another brand new day.
See our slideshows from Drkmttr and The East Room for more photos.
