REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY NICO CHODOR ☆
THERE WAS A COOL BUZZ IN THE CROWD TUESDAY NIGHT on Fell Street and Franklin, as San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop welcomed Violet Grohl to the stage for her Bay Area headlining debut. Dimly lit, intimate and completely decked out with Halloween decorations—namely, the giant, looming skeletal mummy in the back of the room—Rickshaw set the appropriate mood for a Violet Grohl show, given the artist's own affinity for the macabre. Grohl topped the bill for this sold-out show with support from Albanian artist and producer Suzy Clue, who opened the night with hot pink hair and goth punk seduction.
In contrast, Violet came off more inwardly focused: she let the music of her debut album Be Sweet To Me speak for itself, more often than not holding her burgundy mic with eyes closed until each song’s completion—poised against the backdrop of a cataclysmic, punk-rock wall of sound. Her backing band joins the percussive drive of Anthony Paul Lopez, who co-produced Be Sweet To Me with Justin Raisen, Salar Rajabnik and Tim Gray on guitars, and album vocal producer Ainjel Emme on bass. Their combined efforts are wholly reminiscent of ‘90s Seattle.
Grohl and company moved through “Cool Buzz” and “THUM” with self-assured grit. These two songs crunch with grunge influence in both sound and sonnet, as the former takes aim at double standards within punk and both tracks employ highly textured rock ‘n’ roll fuzz.
Melodic darkness swirls on this record, sometimes trending toward the dream-pop expanse of Mazzy Star/Cocteau Twins, and then nose-diving into Soundgarden’s roar. The fifth track on the album, “Big Memory,” was heart-wrenching live. It’s distorted and painfully honest, with a pre-chorus that stings: “Do you want what’s in my mind? Do you want what you will find?”
Grohl surpassed expectations on “Bug In The Cake,” the beating heart of this record for its dedication to her grandmother Virginia and raucous pop-grunge soundscape. Hearing and seeing this live felt like a personal invitation to the “party at grandma’s.” Coupled with her portrait tattooed on Grohl’s arm, this track solidified the continued presence of what sounds like a riot of a woman and reminds us all to hug those we hold dear.
Violet was backlit in soft yellow during her live rendition of “Mobile Star,” a stripped-down, haunting lullaby that almost feels Lynchian, time-warping and carnivalesque. Following this, “Applefish” stunned with its delicate first chorus and crashing drums by Lopez that propelled Grohl toward her most explosive. “Sun Is Blind” (unreleased) was the most direct nod to Chris Cornell on the setlist for its louder-than-love momentum, and standout track “595” followed suit with gritty overdrive suggestive of PJ Harvey’s 1995 hit “Down by the Water.”
Grohl closed the show with Die Spitz-level sonic energy on “Often Others,” but then decelerated for the slow-burning catharsis of her final number “Plastic Couch.” Her vocals breathe like gossamer until this song’s final third, when hard-rock percussion takes listeners by storm. Although Shane Hawkins performs this heavy drum-driven conclusion on the record, Anthony Paul Lopez commanded the room with staggering composure, and Rickshaw Stop’s crowd headbanged along to the bittersweet end.
Violet Grohl sealed her show-stopping performance with a flying kiss to the audience, leaving San Francisco blown away and buzzing for more. She has upcoming North American tour dates through November and then goes on to support beabadoobee in Europe, followed by a string of dates in Japan, Australia and South America. Be Sweet to Me is out now.
