In prizefighting terms, it was over as soon as the opening bell sounded. Same Sex Mary, the garage-y rock band from Boulder City, stood toe-to-toe with the audience at Fremont Country Club and threw musical haymaker after musical haymaker. It turns out The Second Coming is not just the name of the group’s new album, but also an apt description for a bravura and attitude unseen before this night.
This was a concept show, a mix of sound and theater, with actors Bryan Todd and Jamie Carvelli taking the stage and performing pieces of a Footloose-style story after each song. (In the end, the domineering man loses, and rock ’n’ roll wins.) It was an enjoyable, out-the-box idea, though the band was in such a zone, the theatrics often thwarted momentum. Half as much would have gone twice as far.
SSM now has a grittier, more mature (and accessible) sound, and this is the right lineup to realize that potential. New drummer Aaron Guidry, rocking a Miami Vice-style suit, can bang with the best of them. New guitarist Brian Cantrell, as if wardrobe-fitted by The Big Lebowski’s landlord for one of his cycles, elevates the group’s entire catalog. Bassist Jason Aragon is as sturdy as ever. And the faces of the group, James Howard Adams and Tsvetelina Stefanova have never been more in sync. Stefanova has grown as a vocalist, evidenced on “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” a mood-setting song with subtle instrumental adds throughout. Main-set closer “Do No Good” featured a choir of local singing all-stars backing Adams at his best. It was a microcosm of the entire night, a band at its best bolstered by a supportive scene.