As expected, Erika and the gang performed flawlessly to a decent sized, but not sold out, group of screaming fans. Each number grew louder and more powerful climaxing, in my opinion, with "The Mountain", a song which fully exhibits the musical power of the entire group. Guitarist Mark Nathan sat down at his pedal steel and proceeded to make it's strings cry out just as loudly as Erika Wennerstrom's graveled chorus: "when you see there's smoke there's fire". A guest singer and mean spirited merch girl sang back up on a few tunes, something new for
Heartless Bastards. Most noticeable was the intense drum work of Dave Colvin who hit each fill out of the park as well as bassist Jesse Ebaugh's slippery thumps which went above and beyond the call of duty as a time keeping bass player. In short, the entire show was an exercise in good old fashion loud rock and roll.
Heartless Bastards are one of a kind and will continue to blow the doors off venues across the world as they grow stronger and stronger as a truly forceful band.
