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Keytars, Glam Jams, and Amp Blowouts

After an otherworldly wail from the dark, smoke-filled stage, brilliant white lights snapped on to reveal Mute Math vocalist Paul Meany as he stood triumphantly on top of an amp, famed red keytar in hand. When the drums built into an ecstatic rush, he jumped down like Sammy Hagar and the audience at B.B. King’s went crazy. At the band’s frenzied moments, Meany launched himself over the keyboard in a gymnastic game of leapfrog with as much ease as when he delivered sway-inducing semi-ballads. Though they ran through favorites such as “Stare at the Sun” and “Control,” Mute Math improvised with percussion, banging on any available surface with any available object. The audience insisted on an encore and was left satisfied with “Reset.”

We Are the Fury took the same stage and played an arresting set wherein lead singer Jeremy Lublin struck his best Mick Jagger pose while channeling Ziggy Stardust. The Toledo, Ohio band borrowed the best rock guitar riffs and combined them with ’70s-era synthesizer glam, inducing a small, pogoing mosh pit. And just before them, post-hardcore band A Static Lullaby thrashed through a distorted, melodic set. Frontman Joe Brown leaned over fans and screamed his guts out, sometimes offering a growl so low it felt bone dry.

Over at Fontana’s, Glasgow-natives the Twilight Sad played fuzzed-out, lo-fi songs that eventually blew out an amp. The wide-eyed guitarist, Andy MacFarlane, was still all smiles when he stepped to the microphone to apologize in a thick accent, “I’m fucked.” EMILY YOUSSEF / PHOTOS BY ERIC NOWELS
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