Photos by James Sanderson

Last Friday night was hot. The inside of Thee Parkside was significantly hotter, with the exception of a fan above the doorway trying its best to keep everybody at a comfortable level.

Things would soon be getting even hotter, as San Jose’s For The Win opened the show with an energetic performance and San Francisco’s Drowning With Out Anchors, featuring a new member in Dan of OLEHOLE/ex-Burial Year, blazed through songs from their latest album, You Can Never Go Home Again. The highlights of the night, however, were the reunion of The Ghost and the headlining performance by The Velvet Teen.

The Ghost came onto the stage to a warm and hearty welcome. The room at Thee Parkside quickly became packed with eager fans who’d long waited to see the unique group play again. What ensued was a loud, raw, and powerful set. The crowd sang together almost as much and probably a little louder than Brian Moss, the group’s frontman. The band played a number of older tunes, including material from This Is A Hospital, the newly reprinted debut album that dropped that night. It was one hell of a reunion – the crowd and the band feeding off each other in a way that made for a very successful show.

From Santa Rosa, The Velvet Teen took the stage to a lively audience and I was stoked to see my hometown heroes rocking Thee Parkside. The crowd initially seemed a little worn out from the pulsating preceding set, but all it took was the tight precision of tracks like “Building A Whale” and “The Prize Fighter” to wake the mob up. With Josh Staples (The New Trust) rejoining the group and Matthew Izen (Polar Bears) on second guitar, they are definitely a force to be reckoned with. Besides a couple bad pedophile jokes from a dude in the crowd, the show couldn’t have gotten any better.

Here’s a few photos of The Velvet Teen’s Set: