Philly-based Low Cut Connie stormed into East Atlanta Village on Friday, January 26th at The EARL along with Adam Weiner’s trusty piano, Shondra, named after a dancer he met at The Clermont Lounge; Atlanta’s famed strip club. To lug the 400 pound Shondra around the US, not to mention to load her into the back room of The EARL (I mean did they take her up the back stairs? Through the front door?), she better be worth it for the now six-piece traveling band. If you’ve ever seen Low Cut Connie live though, you know Shondra is a key element in their gritty rock ‘n’ roll and every ferocious live show.
Athens-based Blue Blood kicked off the evening at The EARL as the crowd slowly trickled in. Led by frontman and songwriter Hunter Morris, Blue Blood played a set with a lot of songs off of their sophomore release, Pretty Wars, released in 2017 via Laser Brains. By the time Blue Blood was finishing up their set, a scan around the room unveiled an attentive audience who created a circle surrounding the stage as Blue Blood grabbed each new person who walked in with their heartfelt Americana meets atmospheric power pop sound.
Before Low Cut Connie would take the stage, there was one more act set to heat up the now filling in crowd. Atlanta-based Rod Hamdallah and his three piece band took to The EARL’s stage ready to set fire to the dark backroom. While Hamdallah may not be a household name around the nation, having only released an EP in 2014 and 7-inch in 2015, he’s become a well known blues-garage rock guitarist around Atlanta and more playing with the Legendary Shake Shakers, JD Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers and plenty of others. He’s also old friends with Low Cut Connie’s frontman Adam Weiner. While Hamdallah hasn’t released much of his own material over the last few years, there’s been plenty of opportunities over the years to catch him live in Atlanta and around the Southeast.
Rod Hamdallah joined by an old friend from the crowd on stage
If you’ve ever seen him live, you’ll know just what I’m speaking about. Mixing elements of blues, garage rock and punk, think back to when The Black Keys were great, Captain Beefheart, Hanni El Khatib, or even King Khan, the no frills rock ‘n’ roll is what you are going to get. Catching Rod Hamdallah live will leave you saying half way through his set “Where has this guy been? I need more of that.” I’ve said it before, I’ve heard others say it, and I heard it again from the people next to me on this night. Rod Hamdallah hits hard from the beginning of his set, and it never wavers until the final chord is ripped. Hopefully new material from Rod and his band isn’t too far away.
Seeing Low Cut Connie live for the first time will bring about a similar “where has this band been all my life” feeling. This night was no different for the attendees at The EARL.
When Low Cut Connie finally took to the stage, Adam Weiner took his familiar place with Shondra, his piano. As the band broke into their first song of old time rock ‘n’ roll with Adam sitting down, you quickly realize that sitting and playing the piano is actually only a small piece of their live show. As the band pushed through songs from their 4 albums, Weiner bounced all over Shondra like he has so many times before. Laying down while playing, dancing on top of her, and bringing the fire that Jerry Lee Lewis would be proud of. Weiner doesn’t stop, dancing in and out of the crowd, and making sure every person who attends a Low Cut Connie show is having a blast just like the band on stage. Is there a better frontman going today than Adam Weiner? Their whole set serves as a reminder of what it is to be a great rock ‘n’ roll band.
Before the night was over, Low Cut Connie would announce to the audience their upcoming new album, Dirty Pictures (Part 2) comes out May 18 via Contender Records, and giving us a live preview of their new single “Beverly”, which was officially released into the world last Tuesday by NPR. By the time Low Cut Connie’s set ended at The EARL, Weiner’s shirt was ripped off, and not only the band, but also the audience was drenched in sweat and smiles, a sure sign that a good time was had by all. But don’t let me know tell you that, just check out the pictures which tell the real story and make sure to see Low Cut Connie live for yourself.
Relive Low Cut Connie’s night at The EARL through Mike Gerry‘s photo’s:
Low Cut Connie Upcoming Tour Dates:
