Acetone- Garibaldina Society, Los Angeles 5/17/24
There was a different kind of overwhelming excitement when entering the venue; one of my top two fave bands that sprouted up in the 90s was gonna be playing. After marveling at the gorgeous, vintage vibe of the venue, the next thing we noticed upon entering was how many young people were in the audience. It’s incredibly satisfying to see, any time a great band has crossed over into a younger generations conscious. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that the climate of music on the web that has made this possible. Even though most of Acetone’s catalog wasn’t available on streaming until recently, the dedicated fans who have shared the music on youtube and blogs have helped spread the word. I spent a whole lotta time shouting from the rooftop about them in the 90s via mix tapes and constant in-store play at the record store I worked at. The web has magnified this for fans, and has played a massive part in explaining audience reach.
There’s been a lingering specter around Acetone for more than 20 years; the sadness surrounding Richie Lee’s suicide and the bands demise. However, the past year has been a boon to Acetone fans both young and aging. New West records has released the best sounding versions of their albums on vinyl, their catalog has come to streaming, and SF/ LA (and soon NYC) have been treated to live performances.
Sadly, out of town commitments of my own musical journey caused me to miss their first reunion show in LA a few years back, and the same thing *almost* happened again. Thankfully, the stars aligned and it was a date that worked. My latest fan convert (my darling Miranda) and I planted ourselves up close. Oftentimes, hometown audiences don’t come through for a hometown gig; thankfully, this bag was packed, and it was packed with good vibes.
Opening up with ‘Cindy’ from their debut EP, the beautiful wash of sound immediately took the audience someplace else; an outstanding start to a near two hour journey. As soon as Steve Hadley started drumming, it was a great reminder of the importance of his part in the sound of the band; loose limbed, vulnerable, with washes of cymbals that fill up a lot of space. Doesn’t matter how slow the tempo, Steve swings. Like Elvin Jones playing at half or quarter speed. The new bassist, Senon Williams, was so locked in with Steve; an absolutely gorgeous sounding, grooving rhythm section that kept the audience swaying.
Mark Lightcap has always been an exceptional guitarist, but in recent years he has perfected his style in ways that made me feel throughout the set that I was undoubtedly watching one of the all time masters. His style - a unique melding of classic soul guitar moves ala Curtis Mayfield, with a dash of Neil Young, Hawaiian sweetness, occasional country lilt, and a dusting of Hendrix- was on full display. Waves of gentle feedback punctuated lilting, melodic moves, often times roaring through a hand crafted rotating speaker of his own creation. One of the set highlights was an outrageously beautiful version of Phil Manzanera’s instrumental showpiece ‘Diamondhead’.
It’s rare for a band to be able to pull off such a long set, but Acetone did it without any stretches of boredom. The set had more highlights than I can mention, but ‘Things Are Gonna Be Alright’, ‘Always Late’, ‘Vibrato’, ‘Every Kiss’, and ‘Shaker’ were among the most moving. The encore blast of ‘Sundown’ was unreal; Steve and Senon laid down an unstoppable elastic groove, with Mark taking off into the stratosphere with peels of brilliant, fuzzed out, wah wah’d guitar fire (which spurred Miranda to refer to him as ‘the maestro’). It went on for ten minutes, and we could have easily taken ten more.