Below are some photographs of the band VINTAGE TROUBLE as they performed at the Star Bar in Park City, Utah during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. These guys are your new favorite band. Trust me.
What kind of name is Vintage Trouble, though? The name seems a bit precocious. I’ve fallen in love with bands possessed of stranger names before, so I brushed the issue aside. Prior to leaving for Sundance, I checked them out on iTunes. Yep. Good band. My prognosis was that their soul / R&B / /blues / rock grooves would keep a crowd moving. I expected it to be fun.
There are times in life when I am right.
On this night, I was hella right.
Typically I publish 20 or fewer photos. My final set, the images I just couldn’t say “no” to, was 68. Though I was tempted to only publish 20, I absolutely HAD to publish all 68. Note to my musician clients: This is not how it usually goes. If you want this level of service, it will cost extra. I was in love and I couldn’t NOT do this. Thanks for understanding 🙂
If James Brown and Mick Jagger made a baby, his name would be Ty Taylor, and he would be the front man for Vintage Trouble. Taylor’s energy was palpable via his jumps, spins, lasso-like use of the mic cord, and his urges to jump into the audience (which he gave into a few times). His sweat-soaked suit was the flag, the band played the march, and everyone fell in step. Their live show elicits constant, reflexive smiles and ass-shaking from even the most austere.
When the band recorded their debut album, “The Bomb Shelter Sessions”, they worked to emulate the recording techniques of the mid-1900’s to capture the old school sound. Eschewing modern techniques of recording one instrument at a time and fixing mistakes in ProTools, they opted for the only option bands in the 1950’s had: The laid down complete songs as a band while the tape was running. This forces everyone in the band to play their part perfectly so that the whole recording will be album-worthy. Musically speaking, the latter technique separates the men from the boys – and produces recordings that have the energy of a live performance.
Though the album is very damn good, something that ANY band of any skill level would be proud to produce, it still pales in comparison to the live show. The band roared into a tune called “Total Stranger”: It felt like being in a 1968 Chevelle with a souped up 396 V8, barreling down Interstate 80 with the accelerator firmly planted into the floor for 5 minutes straight on a sunny August day with no reasons to stop. I’m not just being flowery with my language – drummer Richard Danielson, bassist Rick Barrio Dill, and guitarist Nalle Colt honestly sounded like a piece of octane burning machinery. Ty Taylor was the perpetrator at the wheel with the infectious shit-eating grin.
Vintage Trouble continue their North American Tour throughout the spring of 2013. www.VintageTrouble.com
Check out their official music video for “Blues Hand Me Down”
See the full gallery of photos from the show here:
