We heard that GEEZER, a 3 piece American stoner blues act were playing the Exeter Phoenix on the opening night of the the UK leg of their tour, we popped along to see what all the fuss was about...

Opening act STUBB are a powerful 3 piece rock act from London who certainly mean business.

Amidst the wall of fuzz, the squealing feedback and heavy beats, they took the stage by storm and performed a tight set for the small but perfectly formed Exeter audience that had congregated at the Phoenix for some light relief from the daily grind.

After shooting a few pics, I gingerly removed my earplugs, replacing them a nanosecond later, the fuzz and hiss was akin to the same levels that legendary US indie rock trio Dinosaur Jr pumped out when I caught them last year in Bristol!

They only had 7 songs and by the time the first was over, the guitarist was already two strings down! At this rate, I’ll be purchasing a wedge of shares in ‘Ernie Ball’ tomorrow morning!

Their tracks thumped you, no, scrub that, battered you, there were some intricate blissed out bass harmonies that really set the songs apart from one another. The beats stayed heavy throughout, driving the set forwards, the guitar work was immense, a mixture of heavy fuzz and all out, ball busting psych-blues, really capturing the vibe of the 60’s and 70’s power rock trio’s that dominated the airwaves back in the day.

Ending with the ferocious power of “Hard Hearted Woman”, they proved to the room that they were no one trick pony, some impressive bass and guitar work filled the room with bluesy awesomeness whilst the drums performed the solid foundations for it all to sit on. Their tracks have a habit of breaking midway through, taking you on another journey altogether before getting back in line to pile back into the room in a more orderly fashion.

If you like your blues-rock with a large helping of fuzz, you should definitely catch these guys when and where you can.

For more information on these guys, check their Bandcamp page or the usual social media channels.

Geezer are a New York based 3 piece cosmic stoner blues act who have come to the UK to spread their word. This being the first night of the tour, they took to the stage and set out their stall from the off. Looking like a ZZ Top tribute band, they soon nailed their colours to the mast and turned the crowd on to their blend of psych-blues tarnished with the whiskey soaked vocals of Pat Harrington.

Midway through their set, it was apparent that Pat was struggling somewhat, whilst the vocals were knocked down a peg or two, it was down to the instruments to take over and start doing the talking and boy didn’t they make them talk. The bass and drums worked together perfectly to create some of the slickest grooves I have heard in a long time and with Pat’s guitar singing so sweetly above the back line, it all gelled together perfectly.

These guys already have quite an arsenal of material under their belts and listening to a cross section before the show, it’s clear that they tend not to steer to far from the well-trodden path, but then again, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

You can keep up to date with the bands whereabouts at all the usual social media sites including their website www.geezer.com

Review by Steve Muscutt

Photography by Julian Baird