Not a garage big enough in the world for Night Beats

Night Beats stopped by Brick and Mortar Wednesday November 9th to play the psych set of a Bay area college student’s dream. The Mystery Lights of Brooklyn, NY are supporting them on this tour. Both bands have a foot in psychedelic and garage rock realms, genres that channel musical stylings of the 1960s and 1970s.

The Mystery Lights are a fresh take on 1970s garage, gritty and sexy as all hell — think The Kinks with an edge. Their first, self-titled LP The Mystery Lights (2016) came out only this past summer. Tracks like “Flowers in My Hair, Demons in My Head” provide a darker kind of psychedelic music in an almost tongue-in-cheek way; The Mystery Lights are no pseudo-hippies capitalizing on the retro trend. It was a special pleasure to watch them close with “What Happens When You Turn the Devil Down”, the final track on the album.

I hadn’t seen Night Beats since my senior year of high school and jumped at the chance to see them play songs from the new album, Who Sold My Generation (2016) released earlier this year. I’ll say aging suits us both.

Night Beats have opened the garage doors–Who Sold My Generation is cleaner but no less robust. Their live performance has matured considerably, though there was nothing the matter with it to begin with. It seems Night Beats have a more serious side, and their musicianship is staggering.

Texas natives Danny Lee Blackwell and Jakob Bowden wore wide brimmed hats to complement their respective Silvertone guitar and hollow body bass. Night Beats are proud of their home and its rich musical history.