Youthful Brazilian psych-rock band Boogarins brought its incredible live set to Pittsburgh Monday night at Cattivo, awash in cascading phasers, guitar solos, and latin-fueled rhythms. Despite a modest-sized crowd, guitarist/vocalist Dinho Almeida was rarely seen without a grin as he wrangled his careening red Fender Mustang. Drummer Ynaia Benthroldo and bassist Raphael Vaz provided an incredible pulse to the swirling space created by second guitarist/vocalist Benke Ferraz, who twisted and turned knobs to make his Danelectro Hornet sting like its namesake. I had first seen the band play at what was then known as Austin Psych Fest in 2014, where the band gave overflowing gratitude to the festival organizers and attendees who were watching the Boogarins on a beautiful Austin afternoon stage set before the Colorado river. The band is set to return to Psych Fest, which has been rebranded as Levitation, in the last weekend of April.
On Monday, the band played the basement stage at a bar in springtime Pittsburgh before a small crowd, but it was plain to see some in the audience were repeat listeners and thrilled to feed off the Brazilians’ energy who in turn reached a feedback loop of positive vibrational energy. This sense of “build it and they will come” or “fake it till you make it,” can really set a band apart from the tired sets of many and is a lesson learned too many times by bands. It’s strange and particularly gut-wrenching to watch a band travel thousands of miles over continents to play to a half-filled club on a Monday night–I think bassist Raphael Vaz can be quoted from the beginning of the set as saying, “porra segundas-feiras,” or, “fucking Mondays”–but the Boogarins played their set, and played it extraordinarily well, as evidenced by the swaying audience, transfixed by four brasileiros who took us on a intercontinental aural journey. Gratitude at all times despite the circumstances can have marvelous positive effects, and the Boogarins proved it.
Locals Delicious Pastries opened, performing a bouncing set of 60s-inspired pop with a brainy quirkiness. You may remember our premiere and review of their new record aleatoric delay released in March of this year (buy it). Singer Jonathan Chamberlain lead the band from the front, singing a fantastic rendition of “Radial Blur” as the rest of the band frolicked in sunshine vibes backed by the always-magical Jesse Ley on drums. The song has the tendency to loop further into itself, creating a singalong progression and triumphant finish, beckoning the Boogarins to take the stage.
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