Eric McFadden Trio, Fingers of Passion, Indecisive Youth & Incredible Diamonds

Due to the unpredictable nature of food service employment, I arrived at the Riff Raff just in time to see the Incredible Diamonds breaking down their equipment. Though I have never actually seen this band I know they shred rockabilly asphalt, and a mostly reliable source informed me that they opened with a nicely executed cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," complete with background fills and a psycho lead guitar.
Indecisive Youth moved in and set up shop on the Riff Raff's new stage, almost obscuring it under the band's beast of a drum kit. One of Chico, California's most well-rehearsed punk bands, Indecisive Youth also seems to have an endless source of new material; I think they stole somebody's catchy-riff-making machine. Playing at their usual Ritalin-deprived energy level, they tore it up in happy-punk fashion as guitarist Nick Giusto bounced around like a cartoon character. I even recognized a few songs, which is amazing for me and speaks again to the previously mentioned catchiness.
Fingers of Passion began their set in character, haggling with the sound guy over the set length. The signature chaos and mayhem set in soon afterwards, starting with the smearing and throwing of sound guy Elvis' birthday cake. Faces now decorated with colorful, sugary goodness, the kings of caffeine exploded into their set with energy that drove their jazzy brat-punk into the deepest crevices of the Riff Raff, though it had a tendency to throw off the band's tightness now and then. But fists pumped the air still as bartender Sarah took over lead vocals for a spirited, if partially mangled Clash cover. The band's long-time official anthem, aka The Living End's "Prisoner of Society" ended the set; but the noise continued as a handful of other local band members, fronted by the drunken and cake-smeared Elvis, converged on the equipment to play one more song…the unofficial debut of Chico-local band Psycho Babble. Good song. Promising band.
Yes, God visited Riff Raff Wednesday night…the god of the mind-blowing guitarists' religion. The Eric McFadden Trio's set snarled to life, hitting like a boulder on the surface of a lake, immediately grabbing every audience member and stunning long-time fans as readily as first-time listeners. Describing the sound produced by an acoustic double-bass and nylon-stringed classical guitar when they are plugged in, distorted and filtered through various effects would be a waste of words, but suffice to say it isn't like an acoustic show, and it's not like any typical electric show, either. The bass player switches between finger-plucking and using the bow, throwing out ultra-low, throbbing notes that carry impossibly long, and the guitar makes much more noise than an acoustic instrument usually makes, taking normal electric distortion and adding teeth. Throw into the mix that McFadden is a hair-band-worthy soloist, and you'd have to be one dry individual not to be completely mesmerized. To fit a long show into a short paragraph, the band moved seamlessly from smoky lounge act to crazed thrash-metal, passing through a slow, mean Black Sabbath cover and ending on their days-long acid churner, "Diamonds to Coal." I rationalized spending $15 on a T-shirt, and I now hate all music.
- Words and photo by Peter Kimmich

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