Do you remember the good old times? Do you remember when Bruce Springsteen was all sweaty with the veins of his neck bulging out? Do you remember when Joe Strummer was screaming, bouncing with a manic energy on stage? Do you remember about old-school rock and roll, loud, slapping your face, with a frontman haranguing the crowd, giving out all his nervous energy in one epic show? It’s about what you get with Outernational, the Brooklyn band who was celebrating May Day at the Echo.
During almost two hours, the five or six of them (as there was a second drummer helping on some songs) didn’t rest a second to take a breath, Miles Solay was on fire from start to finish, moving like an ad for an energy drink, arriving on stage with a zipper black jacket and an extra shirt, which he violently removed during their first song, while constantly jumping around as if he had some invisible springs glued under the soles of his shoes.
Skinny-jeans-legs apart, Solay was using the mic stand as an element of his swagger dance or was holding the mic to move freely everywhere, included on the drum set: I hadn’t seen a more dynamic and electric frontman for a long time, and was wondering how he could make such mean, dramatic facial expressions, which were so engaging at the same time.
I realized right away there were a lot of their songs I didn’t know, having focused on their recent release, ‘Todos Somos Ilegales’, as they started by a series of punch-in-the-stomach numbers which were in a more traditional rocking vein than their recent Latino music inspiration, incorporating nevertheless funky, ska or reggae-ish elements, all wrapped up in a punk raging delivery,… there was even one during the encore which Solay sang in an almost rap delivery,…well I would have to listen to them again, but where can I find them?…in any case, it was a wild set, and did I mention the trumpet? Each time, it kicked up the energy in the room, as if it was necessary, since Solay was already generating enough of it, greatly helped by guitarist Leo Mintek, bass player Jesse Williams Massa and drummer Nate Hassan.
And if you hadn’t noticed yet, Outernational has a strong political message, they carry it on their sleeves, and on their hearts as they look like the genuine and real thing: they have a song called ‘Fighting Song’ and probably any of their tunes could be used for a Occupy – (filled the blank) soundtrack. Miles Solay, with his vocal attacks of gospel-bold-preacher, talked about the band’s adventure in Pershing Square, Downtown LA for May Day, after playing an acoustic set on Sunday to celebrate the twentieth Anniversary of the LA riots and raise money for the BA Everywhere campaign. But it is something they are used to, making appearances with protest movements along their tour, and Solay was particularly proud to say that their tour took them across the border, ‘where no other bands have never been’ as they had just played in Tijuana. They obviously are on a mission, they talked about revolution a lot in their songs and in between, fully convinced that music can change the world and raise consciousness, like the children of the Clash, or more recently Gogol Bordello – Eugene Hütz has indeed produced a three-songs-single of them – or of course Rage Against the Machine –Tom Morello produced some of their songs and took them under his personal protection.
More songs off their last album arrived during the second part of the show, first with a quieter moment during this controlled chaos, when the whole band came front stage to sing their cover of Woody Guthrie’s ‘Deportees’, that the crowd sang along at the top of its lungs. I also recognized the following song ‘Ladies of The Night’, then Miles Solay introduced Tijuana No!’s Ceci Bastida who joined them to sing ‘Canta el Rio’, before playing one of the audience’s favorites ‘Que Queremos’ with the longest trumpet solo of the night. They brought up the accordion, and all their Gogol-Bordello-pirate spirit to close their set with ‘Fighting Song’, which started an epic mosh pit.
But the crowd was not ready to let them leave, chanting ‘One more song’ until they came back for a five-song encore, which gave Miles Solay another occasion to resume his intense work out, doing some crazy things, like faking to hang himself with the cord of his mic or using the stand as a rifle and pointing it to the crowd. ‘Too much rock’ n’ roll for a school night?’ he shouted to us before high-fiving the front row (I could not resist),… school night? I am used to that, and I was thinking it was making much more sense to see them on May Day than…. Coldplay, who was playing at the Hollywood bowl the same day!
They are not playing the bowl, yet, but they have already built a strongly devoted supporter crowd, as there was a guy with an Outernational t-shirt who said he had already seen them over 20 times! And if they needed another recognition, Tom Morello’s mom was there, demonstrating, as Miles Solay said, that you are never too old for the revolution.
Set list:
Walking Dead
Woman on the Edge
The Beginning is Here
In Their Sights
For it All Now
Whirlwinds of Danger
Further In
Where Will You Go
Underground
Welcome To The Revolution
Deportees
Ladies of The Night
Canta el Rio w/ Ceci Bastida
Que Queremos
New People
Fighting Song
Encore:
Sir No Sir
Outernational
New York Parasite
Electric Avenue (Eddy Grant cover)
One For the Airwaves
