Anyone who feels at home listening to loud rock music, psychedelic guitar tones and progressive riffs will also be at home if they head to The Union Bar and Grill on Friday night.
The venue, which re-opened in May, is hosting three rock bands who fuse an array of approaches, mostly coming from the indie, folk and pop side of things.
Speaking Suns, a visiting band from Yellow Springs, Ohio, labels its style as progressive pop-rock, while the two Athens-based bands on the bill, Water Witches and Weird Science, add a little more noise and psychedelia to their tunes. The show is for attendees ages 18 and up and starts at 9 p.m. with a cover charge of $5.
“We actually have played (Athens) a lot,” Jacob Diebold, vocalist and guitarist for Speaking Suns, said. “Our former bass player used to live in Athens so we’ve played shows at The Union, The Skull and house shows there.”
Diebold also said “The Disenchanted” and “Judas In Bloom” are the songs that really get the crowd going at their shows.
“Those ones are really fun to play because of the energy and the recognition,” he said.
Speaking Suns is also planning a 19-track double album to be released later this year or early next year. As of now, it’s untitled, Diebold said.
Friday night will not be the first time the bands have crossed paths over the years. Water Witches and Weird Science have played shows together for some time now. Christopher Lute, the drummer of Weird Science, said one of them took place in the woods.
The atmosphere of Weird Science shows is “pretty outrageous,” Lute said. He said they had once given their frontman’s mother a guitar and she proceeded to jam on stage with them “for like 20 minutes.”
The three bands trade shows with each other between Athens and Yellow Springs, Charlie Touvell, drummer of Water Witches, said.
Touvell said Water Witches would be playing with a special local guest as well.
“We haven’t played with Weird Science in forever,” Touvell said. “It should be a loud, rockin’ show. We try to put on a lively set of psychedelic pop.”
