It’s Friday July 25th. It’s stifling hot and El Corazon has no ventilation. But Arizona’s Andrew Jackson Jihad are playing to a packed crowd and are not to be missed. AJJ is the only band I know of who combine melodic folk songs combined with a harder edged punk drive. To add to this, their songs are typical folk music poetry, including a song called “Jesus Saves,” which contains the following lyrics:
They say that Jesus saves but Jesus doesn’t care
Because he is in a grave, in a grave
Let’s be our own God, take care of ourselves and the ones that we love.
Front man, Sean Bonnette often shed his acoustic guitar and writhed about the stage, emoted to the crowd, and at one point turned a somersault. I was constantly being crushed against the stage.
Andrew Jackson Jihad have developed quite a fervid and loyal following, with many in the crowd singing along word for word to many of their songs. The other members of AJJ include,
Ben Gallaty – singer, bass
Preston Bryant – backup vocals, keys
Mark Glick – cello
Deacon Batchelor – drums
The finale of their one and a half hour show was so raucous I half expected fireworks to go off. There was no encore, most likely due to the intense and stifling heat inside the tiny club. It had to be 100 degrees in there and I’m not exaggerating. Heat aside, this was a very fun show.
Opening the show was Hard Girls. Hard Girls are a power trio who plays very fast and very hard. Their music is full of hooky guitar licks. Imagine Blink 182 combined with the Dickies. They had many in the crowd up and slamming.
Also from Phoenix was Dogbreth opening the whole night. Dogbreth sounded like a little harder edged Blink 182. They had a “kids next door” look about them, male/female harmonies and a great sense of humor.
A great time (albeit sweaty) was had by all at this sold out show.
All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
