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    The Record Company - Great American Music Hall - November 19, 2016 - Photos courtesy of Louis Raphael Photography
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    The Record Company - Great American Music Hall - November 19, 2016 - Photos courtesy of Louis Raphael Photography
  • 30313924924_9b6e404f5f_k.jpg
    The Record Company - Great American Music Hall - November 19, 2016 - Photos courtesy of Louis Raphael Photography
  • 31020505941_1abc025cf2_k.jpg
    The Record Company - Great American Music Hall - November 19, 2016 - Photos courtesy of Louis Raphael Photography
  • 30313681554_05d9eac4e4_k.jpg
    The Record Company - Great American Music Hall - November 19, 2016 - Photos courtesy of Louis Raphael Photography
  • 31098674526_f670be71ea_k.jpg
    The Record Company - Great American Music Hall - November 19, 2016 - Photos courtesy of Louis Raphael Photography

SF CONCERT REVIEW: The Record Company Blows the Roof Off of the Great American Music Hall (REVIEW + PICS)

in SF Concert Reviews by

stars

 

I don’t know about you guys, but it’s always bothered me that the White Stripes never had a bassist. They’ve got that classic sound of the thumping dry Ludwig drums, combined with the crunchy guitars and soulful voice. There’s just no reason to not fill up that low end with some bass. What gives? Well, look no further than the band The Record Company, which although are unique with their songs and sound, are reminiscent of minimalist blues rock bands like the White Stripes or the Black Keys, but with bass!

The Record Company are from Los Angeles, but the singer-guitarist Chris Vos spent his formative years working on his family’s Wisconsin dairy farm. Realizing that he had bigger dreams for himself, he moved to Los Angeles, where he hooked up with bass player Alex Stiff and drummer Marc Cazorla to follow a similar passion for the blues. On their debut album “Give It Back to You” (recorded and mixed in a living room in Los Feliz) they not only channel the blues, but also gospel, rock n roll as well as a myriad of other root-based genres of popular music.

“We are rock & roll,” said Vos in a Rolling Stone article back in April of this year. “We’re a band for whom the roll matters as much as the rock. The roll is the soul, the gospel, the swing and where it all lives.”

In that same article, Vos describes The Record Company’s live shows as being full of energy. “We try to play our guts out every time we play. You have to take the stage like it’s one less time in your life, not one more. Meaning you only get so many times in your life. It may sound kind of morbid, but you have to leave it all up there onstage.”

That same energy roared through last night’s sold-out show at the Great American Music Hall last night, which had the entire crowd on their feet by the end of night. It was a sweaty performance of epic proportions, full of soul, tasty guitar licks and seductive falsetos from the charismatic frontman.

It’s really  no wonder that this band has played concert halls across North America, opening for acts as diverse as B.B. King, Social Distortion, Buddy Guy, Grace Potter, and Trombone Shorty. They released their first full-length album “Give It Back to You” back in Feb. of this year and its lead single “Off the Ground” reached #1 on the US Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.

With critical acclaim from Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post and Rolling Stone including them in their April 2016 list of “10 New Artists You Need to Know,” The Record Company is a band to watch. Following similar paths that other blues greats have walked before them, this is one act that’s proven their authenticity in spades when it comes to capturing the soul of a genre that’s surely missed in popular music today. And most of all, they’re doing it with bass!

Having released albums under Digital Nations, a label founded by Steve Vai, music critic Louis Raphael has remained deeply connected to the pulse of the San Francisco music scene. Following his tenure as the San Francisco Music Examiner for Examiner.com and AXS.com, he embarked on creating Music in SF® to authentically highlight the vibrant offerings of the city's music scene.

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