Photo by Jackie Lee
Blue & Gold, a band made up of a trio of young New Yorkers, celebrated the release of their self-titled debut EP at Piano’s in the LES last week to an adoring and enthusiastic crowd. It’s clear that Blue & Gold merit the praise after seeing them live. Alex and Chloe, the band’s two guitarists also put in work as vocalists while GG commands the kit. It was a little odd but also fitting that the PA would be playing Sade’s “Smooth Operator” right before the band took the stage as you could (forgive the awful joke) call the band a bunch of smooth operators themselves.
Photo by Jackie Lee
They opened with the last track on their EP, “Your Love,” a perfect introduction to their blues sound with Chloe singing lead vocals. Probably my favorite thing about Blue & Gold is that they basically kick any sort of gendered rock stereotypes — that are pretty prevalent in NYC bands — right in the throat. Chloe delivered lines typically reserved for cocky Jim Morrison types like “I don’t want to see you leave but I love watching you go” with confidence and raw power.
Photo by Jackie Lee
On the second and third tracks, Alex, the sole dude in the band, sang lead vocals. His voice is a surprisingly sweet counterpart to Chloe’s fierceness. Whereas Chloe carries the bluesier side of the band’s sound, Alex delivers a more soulful approach, definitely influenced by the master soul singers of decades past. “It’s Only You” with it’s staccato guitar and climatic vocals is reminiscent of some of The Beatles’ best tracks like “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Don’t Let Me Down.”
Photo by Jackie Lee
After a broken guitar string lull and shout outs to the band’s parents, who were somewhere in the packed Piano’s backroom, the band continued their blues rock party without any more broken strings. This came as somewhat of a surprise considering how many guitar solos happened that night — all of them welcome, and all of them as shredtastic as the next.
Review by Alex Martinez
Photos by Jackie Lee
