Henri Cash on guitar, Arrow de Wilde on vocals, STARCRAWLER firing on all cylinders…..

I honestly can’t recall how I discovered this band - STARCRAWLER from L.A. - but I sure am glad that I did. They’re four kids, 19 or 20 year olds, that are making some killer rock n roll. (I’m gonna call ‘em kids because I’m 56 years old.) I had been enjoying some of their songs and videos for a while when my daughter found that they had a tour stop scheduled in Washington, D.C., so we bought three tickets about two months before the show. I had never been to the venue---Pie Shop DC, also known as Dangerously Delicious Pies, in Northeast DC on H Street. They would be touring in support of their second record, called Devour You. The record came out about a month after we bought the tickets and it is outstanding. I really started looking forward to the show even more after I heard it.

My wife & daughter and I headed out on a Sunday afternoon for our 2-hour drive to the city. We got to the venue early so we had to stay downstairs in the actual pie shop until doors. We went ahead and had—wait for it---pie. It was delicious. Once they let us upstairs we found a large bar area and a rooftop outdoor patio, but the area by the stage was literally 20 feet by 20 feet. The capacity of the sold-out show was 75. It was intimate to say the least. A band called Dan Luke and the Raid played a rather enjoyable opening set. My daughter and I visited the merch table and met Henri, STARCRAWLER’s guitar player, who was extra cool and friendly. We vowed to buy the new vinyl record and seek autographs after the show.

There was no backstage at all, so the band had to take the stage, and exit it, by going through the crowd. My daughter climbed up on a ledge for a great view and my wife and I had a good view from just below her. The bass player, the drummer and Henri the guitarist made their way to the stage and started making a bit of noise before vocalist Arrow charged through the crowd, shoving a few people out of the way just for effect, and then they kicked things into high gear. STARCRAWLER has an early single called “Ants”; a cover of “Pet Sematary” that is amazing; and two full length records of 10 songs each. If they didn’t play all 22 of the songs, they came awfully close. Arrow did not provide any banter between songs. Instead it was one full steam ahead rocker after another with virtually no breaks. They blew the roof off of that Pie Shop.

I see live music all the time and I rave about lots of the shows I see, but this one was kind of special. Maybe it was just that these were actual kids I was seeing and they were sounding super-fresh. It was just a little more exciting than usual and made me think of times when I was in high school, around 1980, and I was seeing all these seminal punk bands that seemed so new and important. STARCRAWLER was punk, raw, dangerous, loud & fun as hell. Arrow de Wilde is unlike any front woman I have seen. She is well over six feet tall and skinnier than heck. And she is mesmerizing to watch. Its hard to take your eyes off of her even though I like to watch guitarists and drummers a lot when I see bands live. Henri was excellent and instantly became one of my favorite guitar players. He was smiling and moving the whole time. No shoe-gazing for this band. When the onslaught was complete, Arrow collapsed onto the floor in the crowd and was picked up and carried out by a roadie. It was a nice theatrical touch, or maybe she was truly that spent from the performance, but either way is fine with me.

We proceeded back to the merch table, met all the members of the band (plus opener Dan Luke, who was cool) and got our STARCRAWLER autographs. It took awhile for Arrow to emerge, but she did and she was very engaging, just as Henri was. GREAT band, GREAT kids, GREAT night. Go see STARCRAWLER and do it soon, before they get too popular. You won’t regret it.

I took some good photos at this show…….

Arrow de Wilde

STARCRAWLER:  Henri, Arrow, Austin Smith and Tim Franco

JCE & daughter w/ Arrow (she’s tall)

BUY THIS RECORD.

In case you still have no idea what this band must sound like based on my description, consider this snippet from an interview with Arrow that I read in the Chicago Tribune:

With a penchant for blood spewing, visceral, physical performance, riffs on riffs and a whole lotta neo-demonic growling — the young act, formed in 2015, has been hailed as the latest to “save” rock 'n' roll from extinction. But if you ask Starcrawler, the band members argue they’re proof rock hasn’t been on any sort of life support. “We’re gonna 'save rock 'n' roll,' whatever that means,” she continues, speaking of her band being given the banner she doesn’t believe needs to be carried. “I think people referring to us as a ‘throwback’ band has influenced others in thinking that rock is a singular sound and singular aesthetic. People don’t really understand.”

If you like rock n roll, you will probably like this band. - by JCE

a couple of illustrative videos…….