Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
At last year's Milwaukee Psych Fest, Garcia Peoples stood out in contrast to other acts thanks largely due to their positive musical vibe. Returning last Friday to The Back Room at Colectivo, the Brooklyn, N.Y., sextet presented a soundtrack to the blizzard outside.
The three-guitar lineup ran with myriad possibilities; musical conversations that weaved keyboards to the mix. Vocalists Tom Malach and Danny Arakaki used lyric passages as stepping off points for improvisation.
It was hard not to hear echoes of the past (German band Can jamming with the Allman Brothers band; Mayo Thompson fronting the Butterfield Blues Band), yet Garcia Peoples found ways to make the music their own.
Bassist Derek Spaldo's sincere ballad “Heart and Soul” took the proceedings down a notch before the band ramped up again. Near the end of the set, organist Pat Gubler edged the band in a direction that suggested the chaos of “Sister Ray” by the Velvet Underground. Then, as if circling the wagons around a buddy on a bad trip, the band move the tune into a more dignified King Crimson sound.
