Cairo Knife Fight Showcases Insane Live Show on Bill with Ealdor Bealu and Tigers On Opium
LAS VEGAS, NV – On Saturday night at The Usual Place in Las Vegas, NV (located on Maryland Parkway and Fremont St. downtown), Dirty Rock n Roll Dance Party hosted a night of mind-bending rock and roll that showcased some incredible talents.
The show was part of Ealdor Bealu (pronounced Elder Blue) and Tigers On Opium’s tour, but had the decided advantage of performing with what I would call some “ultra professional” rockers in Cairo Knife Fight.
The show kicked off with Portland-based Tigers On Opium kicking out some rocking tunes that seemed to blend a bit of Black Sabbath with Led Zeppelin with Queens of the Stone Age and put it through a bit of a punk rock filter.
The end result was pretty damn good. I actually had no idea what to expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
Lead singer Juan Carlos Caceres had a great rock voice and the whole band had a pretty cool stage presence. Bassist Charles Hodge sort of looked like a rock and roll bandito which just added to the strange but pretty rad style the band has.
They had songs that seemed to range from about 4 minutes to about 7 minutes at any given point, but even the longer songs didn’t seem to really slow down to the point of taking their momentum away.
Boise, Idaho’s Ealdor Bealu came up next with a much more psychedelic rock sound reminiscent of the long Rush songs and deep cuts of Led Zeppelin. But this takes those ideas to a whole nother level, in my opinion.
I can’t quite understand what the songs are about, but they seem to be about some fantasy and some actual tangible concepts brought together in a “journey” type scenario. It’s almost as if the whole band was creating Dungeons & Dragons quests with their music.
The soundscape is epic even if the lyrics may be incredibly vague. The songs usually go over 6 minutes long, and going up to 12 or 13 minutes isn’t out of the question.
While I am totally new to the band, I could absolutely appreciate the musical experience they are creating even if I have absolutely no clue what the songs are about.
Cairo Knife Fight came on to close out the night, and for those who don’t know who this band is, I would say it’s probably time to get acquainted with them, because you will not be disappointed.
The best way to describe Cairo Knife Fight is like when Marty McFly goes back to play Johnny B. Goode at his mom and dad’s prom which melts everyone’s minds.
It’s as if guitarist George Pajon Jr. and Drummer (and founder of the band) Nick Gaffaney went to the future, got some insane ideas on how to play music, stole a bunch of crazy gear, and time traveled back to present day just to absolutely destroy what rock bands know as “possible.”
Let me explain…
First of all, as lead singer and drummer in a two-man band, Gaffaney knows that he can’t just sit behind a drum kit and keep the energy of a crowd up.
So, he has effects pedals which allow him to loop and create sounds for his drums to where he can get up, play while standing at times, sing, play synth (while drumming with the other hand), and all sorts of crazy other shit that I have never seen anyone do while drumming.
Meanwhile, Pajon Jr. (Grammy winning guitarist from the Black Eyed Peas) absolutely has the most complicated pedalboard and amplifier rig you very well may ever see in the next 10-20 years that allow him to basically do whatever the hell he wants on guitar to create fill the needs of all the low and high ends as well as rhythm and lead parts for an entire show.
When I say that I was blown away, that is probably an understatement. The concert was two days ago, and I am still trying to digest what the actual hell I saw.
Not to mention that Gaffaney is one helluva singer.
The band should definitely be playing big stages with tons of pyro and effects to add to their already stellar sound creation.
I would say that if put on the proper stages, Cairo Knife Fight might be the best live show for a rock band you could ever see. Even on a local venue stage, they absolutely crushed it.
I look forward to seeing what things may still come from Cairo Knife Fight, because even after having been formed about 14 years ago, the band seems like it still has the ability to ascend to a higher level…and quickly.
