At Barracuda, there was no mistaking Levitation 2018’s roots as a psychedelic festival. Both the side wall and the outside stage were bathed in multi-colored liquid lights. Once Ruby the Hatchet finished setting up and began to crank, it felt like being caught in a vintage Musikladen video on YouTube.
The Pennsylvania/New Jersey quintet felt particularly suited to the atmosphere. Evidenced by long hair, mustaches, and frontwoman Jillian Taylor’s red lace Freddie Mercury-style jumpsuit, the band rooted itself in the early Seventies. Drawing from last year’s Planetary Space Child and 2015’s Valley of the Snake, the Hatchet erected a dense edifice of mid-tempo doom and chugging proto-metal, anchored by axe grinder Johnny Scarps and organist Sean Mur. As expert as the instrumentalists are, Taylor is undeniably the star – strutting, headbanging, and singing in a voice that doesn’t so much soar above the racket as muscle its way to the frontline.
By the time Ruby finished its nine-song set, it had gone from solid opening act to headlining contender.
Though shorn a guitarist, Windhand hasn’t lost a kilowatt of voltage. Bass filling up any space left by the absent guitar and with the volume cranked so high that loose clothing vibrated, Richmond, Virginia’s heaviest foursome shot past “impress” to “overwhelm.” Low-tuned riffs drifted at tempos somewhere between “ambling” and “glacial,” while busy drumming kept the momentum rolling and singer Dorthia Cottrell rode the wave home.
Though not the most gregarious frontperson, Cottrell no longer performs with her back to the audience, instead locking gazes unexpectedly while pacing the stage like a caged beast. Setting aside double-digit epics, the band served up healthy slices of traditionalist Me Decade doom, making up for what it lacked in variety with awesome, bonecrushing power.
Possessing neither Ruby the Hatchet’s easy charisma nor Windhand’s overpowering intensity, headliner Dead Meadow ended up lackluster. The D.C. trio seemed even shorter on melodic character than Windhand, favoring an easygoing low-tempo groove that existed mainly to set up guitar solos. Leader Jason Simon put just enough effort into the gig to elicit howls of pleasure from the faithful, but anyone present for the previous acts likely wondered if the order had been jumbled.
This article appears in April 27 • 2018.
