by Matt Kelchner

On Wednesday night, tour mates the Screaming Females and Pujol stopped at Johnny Brenda’s as part of the tail of their current tour. Together, the two bands have zigzagged and made their way across much of the country and were finally back on the east coast. Tapped to open the show were newcomers to the local music scene here, South Philadelphia’s own Sheer Mag. With expectations were already high going into the night, it ended up being one of the more energetic and wild shows to come to Johnny Brenda’s this year.

Sheer Mag (all photos by Matt Kelchner)

Kicking things off for the night were Sheer Mag. Fresh off the release of their debut 7”, the young band was looking to show that they are a force in the Philadelphia music scene. Concertgoers came out early Wednesday night which made for a packed Johnny Brenda’s for the five piece. Led by an incredible front woman in Christina Halladay, they ripped through a 30 minute set full of catchy, fuzzy garage rock meets power pop. Tracks like “Hard Lovin” and their Best New Music-ed “What You Want” quickly and easily won the crowd over. The impressive set showed the beginnings of the next big band to come out of Philadelphia.

The night continued with Nashville’s Pujol. It takes a special type of band to open for the sonic juggernaut that is the Screaming Females and Pujol were just the right one. Right from the very beginning, their clear cut, no nonsense breed of garage rock pick the crowd up right where Sheer Mag left them off. Led by Daniel Pujol, the four-piece played a number of tracks from their 2014 album KLUDGE, an album that has received rave reviews across the country.

Pujol

Singer/guitarist and mastermind behind the group, Daniel Pujol shared with the crowd lengthy back stories behind each of his songs. “Mission of God” was introduced as the band’s Blues Brothers-esque song and “Point of View” was for “all the lovebirds in the house”. Between these tracks and others like “Mayday”, “Pitch Black” and “Psychic Pain”, Pujol managed to squeeze in a newly written and unrecorded song “June Bug”. As their night came to an end Pujol managed to squeeze the most they could out of their time, filling it with an impressive amount of songs. As they began stripping down their gear and clearing the stage, the room was buzzing from one amazing set and in anticipation for another.

Words can only do so much to describe just exactly what a Screaming Females concert is like. They leave you winded, yet wanting more. Singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster is a one woman wrecking crew who plays every night like there is no tomorrow and wednesday night as Johnny Brenda’s was no exception. Joining the Screaming Females and crowd that night was a camera crew who were there to catch every minute of the musical destruction that was about to happen.

Screaming Females

No introduction was needed as Paternoster, drummer Jarrett Dougherty and bassist King Mike took to the stage. Little was said to the crowd until well within their set. The solos from Paternoster were frequent. Somehow each one was better than the last, seemingly as if Paternoster was trying to outdo herself. The rhythm section laid down by Dougherty and King Mike was locked in Wednesday night. It would’ve taken the stage falling apart to throw the duo off.

Songwise they gave the crowd a career spanning set. While leaning slightly more to their 2012 release Ugly, the handful of albums that came before it were not ignored. “Extinction” and It All Means Nothing” were played early on led into older hits like “Buried In The Nude” and “I Don’t Mind It”. Their night came to an end as Paternoster jumped into the crowd while playing along to “Starve The Beat”. Despite playing her heart out the entire night, Paternoster took the time once the song finished to pick up any empty bar glasses that were left on the stage by those in the crowd, a feat that very well may have been a first for any artist to play Johnny Brenda’s.

Not many concerts at Johnny Brenda’s can bring out mosh pits but the Screaming Females did so with ease. Cheers for an encore brought the three piece from New Brunswick out for one final song, a blistering rendition of the Misfits’ “Where Eagles Dare”. As great as the Screaming Females’ set was, there could not have been a more perfect way to wrap up the night than hearing a room full of people sing along to “I ain’t no goddamn son of a bitch”.