Wednesday, September 11th, 2024, will go forever down in my personal live music history as the first day I had the honor to witness the Osees in all of their psychedelic glory. With such a dynamic evolution through the last two plus decades, I had only a sliver of an idea of what would go down that night. Plus, I went with diehard fans with double-digit show counts under their belt, who helped to shed light on the greatness I was in for.
Because I am less familiar with their expansive catalog of music, I was stoked as hell to enter the evening with a completely open mind, ears, and heart. Kicking off the festivities was Detroit trio . This eclectic rock band captured the audience’s attention with an energy and sound that displayed a true commitment to the cause…and was also damn entertaining.
As the Ogden Theater started slowly filling up to its sold-out capacity and the “good” vantage points were about gone, the crowd writhed with an anticipation that was undeniably palpable. As soon as the legendary rockers graced the stage, the mayhem meter catapulted to exponential heights and did not back down until the show ended at 10:30 on the dot.
From A Weird Exits, “Plastic Plant” opened the set, a steady ‘n heavy but cosmically chill tune that was perfect to set the scene in the Mile High City. “Tidal Wave” scorched in shortly after, a psychedelic gem that makes you feel like you’re surfing the perfect barrel in a vintage Santa Monica setting. The band friskily caressed and propelled their way through “Funeral Solution,” and “A Foul Form,” before hitting the audience with “Encrypted Bounce,” featuring hypnotic grooves, the intoxicating drone of John Dwyer’s voice, organ-y synth tones from wizard Tomas Dolas (keyboards), and a steady rock and roll beat.
The power from the double drummers (Dan Rincon & Paul Quattrone) meshed together with Dwyer’s unignorable incandescence as the leader on guitar, synth and vocals, Dolas’ keyboard magicianship, and Tim Hellman’s (bass) craft on the low end create a never-backing-down energy that I live for. This was shown through clear as the moonlit night as the Osees stampeded through “Rogue Planet,” “Web,” “Black Chems,” and “The Dream/Daily Heavy.”
The cataclysmic fun didn’t stop as foreboding doom greeted listeners by way of fuzz-forward “Withered Hands,” the archaic journey through realms of “Animated Violence,” and into melodic banger “Sticky Hulks,” showcasing what Dwyer does best. After the number, the gracious frontman checked in to make sure everyone was doing alright, before telling us why Hellman was shoeless – he had a few too many (or just enough?) psilocybin mushrooms earlier that day in honor of his birthday.
Kicking it up from the already top notch tier, the complete wailer of a sonic adventure “Scramble Suit II” had the mosh moshin’ even harder, before “If I Had My Way” emblazoned the atmosphere with it’s groovy rhythm section, feathery fuzz rippage, and dynamic tempo.
“Terminal Jape,” another off Protean Threat, popped off with its hard punk notes as “Turned Out Light” brought the noise full circle with its classic psych rock sound. To end the iconic night were four songs from one of my personal favorite albums Floating Coffin, with a dash of “Drug City” from the latest record SORCS 80.
All in all, my first Osees experience was one that will be hard to top. The robust and hard sound, the sweating and captivated crowd, the feel of the sold out room, and the irresistible charm of John Dwyer make for a combo that some would say is unbeatable.
