REVIEW: Shinner, Strange Weekend 1/3

By Reed Romanko

NJ-based bands Shinner and Strange Weekend are a welcome reminder about the gems you can find in your local scene.

Ruffled red carpeting, stickers and graffiti from wall to wall, Christmas lights draped over errant pipes, and “Diner Witches” spray painted onto a banner behind the stage decorated the literally underground venue, The Meatlocker. It was brimming with college-aged kids chatting with one another like old pals.

Shinner, comprised of guitarist Kevin Barthold and drummer Noah Chamberlain, took the stage and began setting up. Chamberlain affixed a tambourine to his drum set while Barthold fiddled with his guitar and amp. Suddenly, chords from Barthold’s guitar sprang out into the audience followed by Chamberlain’s steady drum strokes. The opener started off with a personal favorite, “Penhead,” and quickly gained the crowd’s attention. Before talking amongst themselves, now the audience was rapt with the energy and vitality of Shinner.

Shinner came out strong, and now had the audience’s undivided attention. Barthold had a smile glued to his face as he progressed in his strumming. Though not notably complex, there is a beauty in the simplicity that he played. He rocked with every strum of the guitar and was relishing every moment of it. Likewise, Chamberlain seemed to be having the time of his life hitting those drums. It’s not easy to have a full sound as a two-person band, but Chamberlain played a massive role in making Shinner sound complete. They closed with “Glam,” to which the audience replied with well-deserved applause.

After Shinner’s fun-filled set, the band quickly deconstructed their set-up and left Strange Weekend to get ready for their performance. Much to my surprise, they joined the audience immediately after! I flagged Barthold and Chamberlain down and asked them a little about their set. Somehow, they sounded like they enjoyed their performance even more than the audience! Our conversation was cut short, however, as Strange Weekend had finished their preparation.

The intro to “Death on the Stairs” was met with cheers from the audience. Guitarist Simon Ogilvie’s riffs are beyond catchy, easily getting stuck in one’s head. A mosh-pit formed behind me, bashing to drummer Aidan O’Connor’s bashing of the drums. A brief cheer follows the song’s end before they jumped into the next song, “Joey Vapes.” They retained that high energy and enthusiasm throughout the song.

Katrina Weissman, former audience member and soon to be singer, joined Strange Weekend on stage for their next song, “3-2-1.” She brought a mellowness to the stage, but that did not stop the trio from rocking along. Following that chilled song, Strange Weekend pumped it up again with “The Largest Oil Rig on Earth,” with some standout moments from bassist Oliver Turiano. In the middle of the song, Rapper Kedar Ramanathan joined the band on stage and rapped a verse, further hyping up the crowd.

With two audience members already joining the band on stage, it only seemed natural for the entire audience to join in, and that’s exactly what happened with their next song, “Back Out Again (2AM).” When the chorus came around, Ogilvie lead most of the audience in chanting “2AM!” while Turiano lead a smaller back up section singing the same thing. When it came to the final song of the set, “Digging Up History,” the audience went wild. There was crowd surfing, Barthold returned to the stage and sang with Ogilvie, and once they finished, audience members stormed the stage, one toppling O’Connor’s drum set.

One would think that would be the end, but no — The audience demanded an encore, and even waited for O’Connor to get his drums set-up again. Once they were ready to roll, Strange Weekend started with “Some Call Us Strange Weekend,” the first song off their latest album Diner Witches. With the glow of a successful set behind them, they truly rocked the house, with added praise to O’Connor for fueling such a stellar encore. The band finally closed with “Daydream,” a song the audience had been asking for all night. In that last song, O’Connor, Ogilvie, and Turiano showed what Strange Weekend is: a band of buddies playing some fantastic songs for their friends.