Live Concert Photography: The Mystery Lights with Dirty Fences and Future Punx at Music Hall of Williamsburg 5/18/19

Live Concert Photography: The Mystery Lights with Dirty Fences and Future Punx at Music Hall of Williamsburg 5/18/19

Comprised of founding members Mike Brandon and L.A. Solano with Alex Q. Amini and Zach Butler, the New York-based quartet The Mystery Lights have received attention across the blogosphere for an old-timey garage rock/garage psych sound and aesthetic that recalls The Who Sings My Generation-era The Who, The Animals, Raccoon Fighter, The Black Angels and 70s art punk — and for being the the first rock act to sign with Daptone Records subsidiary Wick Records.

,The New York-based garage rock band can trace its origins back to Salinas, CA where Brandon and Solano grew up, met and played in a nubmer of different local bands in their teens before relocating to New York. The band’s lineup solidified with the addition of Alex Amini, Kevin Harris and Noah Kohll. And despite lineup changes, the band initially developed a word-of-mouth reputation over the period of a few years for explosive live shows across town. Those live shows helped the band develop their sound and approach.

2016 saw the release of the band’s self-titled debut, which they supported with a busy tour schedule that included an appearance at that year’s SXSW. Over the past couple of years, the members of The Mystery Lights have been relentlessly playing shows everywhere and anywhere — all while writing and recording their Wayne Gordon-produced sophomore effort Too Much Tension!

Recorded at Daptone Records’ famed House of Soul Studios in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Too Much Tension! finds the band digging deeper into their influences to enrich their sound — without directly echoing the past. Thematically, the album touches upon substance abuse, self-care and the recognition of happiness only once its lost; but the material manages to be imbued with a familiar, post-modern anxiety.

The members of The Mystery Lights were on a lengthy North American tour that included their album release show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with fellow New York-based bands, Dirty Fences and Future Punx earlier this year. Throughout the fall, The Mystery Lights will be on a lengthy tour of the European Union that includes a stop at my second favorite city in the entire world — Amsterdam. Check out those tour dates, if you’re in Europe. And then check out photos from the show below.

European Tour Dates

9/5: DE, Münster @ Gleis 22
9/6: NL, Amsterdam @ Paradiso Noord
9/7: DE, Hamburg @ Molotov
9/8: NL, Asten-Heusden @ Misty Fields
9/12: UK, London @ Dingwalls
9/15: BE, Leffinge @ Leffingeleuren
9/17: DK, Copenhagen @ Loppen
9/18: SE, Stockholm @ Bar Brooklyn
9/19: NO, Tromso @ Driv
9/20: NO, Bergen @ Landmark
9/21: NO, Oslo @ Vulkan Arena
9/22: DK, Aarhus @ Atlas
9/23: DE, Hannover @ Lux
9/24: DE, Berlin @ Kantine Am Bergain
9/25: DE, Mainz @ Kulturclub Schon Schon
9/27: DE, Nuremberg @ Hemdendienst
10/1: UK, Manchester @ Night & Day Cafe
10/2: UK, Leeds @ Belgrave
10/3: UK, Newcastle @ Cluny 2
10/4: UK, Glasgow @ Broadcast
10/5: IE, Dublin @ Sugar Club
10/6: UK, Birmingham @ Hare & Hounds
10/10: FR, Lille @ L’Aeronef
10/11: FR, Rouen @ Le 106
10/12: FR, Nantes @ Stereolux
10/14: FR, Rennes @ Ubu
10/15: FR, Paris @ La Maroquinerie
10/16: BE Eupen – Alter Schlachthof
10/17: BE, Brussel @ Botanique
10/18: NL, Nijmegen @ Doornroosje
10/19: NL, Rotterdam @ Left of the Dial
10/23: FR, Belfort @ La Poudriere
10/24: CH, Basel @ Kaserne
10/25: CH, Luzern @ Südpol
10/29: ES, Donostia @ Dabadaba
10/30: ES, Madrid @ El Sol
10/31: ES, Vitoria @ Helldorado
11/1: ES, Barcelona @ Upload
11/2: ES, Benidorm @ Funtastic Dracula Carnival
11/4: ES, Sevilla @ Sala x
11/5: PT, Lisbon @ Sabotage

Formed back in 2009, the New York-based punk rock act Dirty Fences — comprised of founding members Jack Daves (vocals, guitar), Max Comaskey (bass) and Max Hiersteiner (drums, vocals), along with Max Roseglass (guitar) — can trace their origins to Boston, where each of its founding members grew up. Initially playing in different bands, Daves, Comaskey and Hiersteiner bonded over their mutual love of Johnny Thunders, Ramones, The Stooges, KISS and Motley Crue, and by the time they had finished high school, they began playing together.

Shortly after the band’s formation, the trio of Daves, Comaskey and Hiersteiner relocated to New York to pursue a career in music. And as soon as they moved, they met Max Roseglass, who joined the band as a second guitarist. Since then, the Brooklyn-based band have released a couple of EPs and four albums that have established their sound — a gritty and boozy, old-school take on garage punk.

Currently comprised of Nick Martin, Jake Pepper, Chris Pickering and Heather Strange, the Brooklyn-based quartet Future Punx specialize in a post-punk sound that’s heavily indebted to 80s New Wave — in particular, DEVO and Talking Heads.