Allison Montroy
amontroy@mustangdaily.net
What is dark, grungy, cock-rock? It’s what Two Gallants’ guitarist and vocalist Adam Stephens described his music as at Friday night’s SLO Brewing Co. concert. If the antique-looking lamp and suitcase on the small stage, blur of plaid in the crowd and intimate red and blue lighting didn’t set the tone for the Two Gallants performance, then the opening act, Future Twin did. The San Francisco-based opener started off the night with a truly hypnotic set of angelic vocals and guitar echoing through thick bass and keyboard, shattered intermittently by the splashes of the drum set.
“The nature of the show was rewarding,” Future Twin vocalist Jean Yaste said.
While Future Twin’s “grandma rock” — or “farmaggedon” — music could have rocked the crowd all night long, the band said it was excited to be performing alongside Two Gallants.
“It’s great,” Yaste said. “They’re friends of ours and lovely people.”
As the two-man folk-rock band that covers drums, harmonica, guitar and vocals took the stage, the crowded room went silent.
But as soon as Stephens began the eerie guitar riff of the band’s opening song, fans erupted with cheers.
“They’re my favorite band,” history sophomore Jack Reynolds said. “They have an unmatched stage presence I’ve never seen before. Regardless of the song, I feel their energy. It gets me hyped.”
The audience swayed in time to the harmonica-laden folk ballads and moshed and slammed into each other during the edgy rock choruses.
Wine and viticulture sophomore Cami Straw said her favorite part of the concert was when drummer and vocalist Tyson Vogel crowd-surfed during the encore performance.
“It was really fun,” Straw said. “And they were really good singers.”
Though Two Gallants played songs such as the popular “Steady Rollin,” mechanical engineering senior Trevor Hebbel said the duo’s best song of the night was its encore finale, “Nothing to You.”
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” Hebbel said. “It was absolutely incredible.”
Hebbel’s friend Elliot Randall agreed, noting that the crowd, too, was “a good crowd.”
For both San Francisco-based bands, it was their first time in San Luis Obispo.
“I enjoyed my time here,” Stephens said. “The people were very welcoming.”
Vogel agreed, stopping during the show to tell fans, “It’s a pleasure to be here on a Friday night in SLO.”