• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Jul 07, 2023 Web Exclusive By Kat Ramkumar Photography by Kat Ramkumar

Bonny Doon are perfectionists—and they make it known. Their 45-minute set at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio in Denton, TX on June 28 was peppered with instructions to the sound engineer to increase, decrease, and equalize sound on guitarist Bobby Colombo’s guitar. While this may seem a bit rag tag, Bonny Doon wanted only the best for their audience. And they delivered.

Their opener, Anna St. Louis, who also had her family present, started off with an acoustic set. Her powerful vocals accompanied with a faint guitar filled the room. Her music was synonymous to playing on the swings in a playground—floating higher and higher until you come to an abrupt stop at the end. St. Louis was illuminated on stage in hues of blue and purple, as she relayed lyrics from her new album In the Air. She finished off her set with her most known songs, “Phone” and “Fire.”

When the Detroit indie rock band donned the indoor stage at around 9 p.m., meticulously on time in fact, they jumped right into their set. While the audience was a little sparse, the band captivated every single person as there wasn’t a still person at the venue. Heads were shaking, feet were tapping, and people were swaying.

With steady drums and an underlying bass keeping pace, two of the three band members who were present, Bill Lennox and Colombo, move right on beat to the first crowd pleaser of the night, “Crooked Creek.” With bright lights synchronized to the beat, the stage was an array of sound and color, illuminating the white shirt Colombo wore. Lennox’s gravelly voice was almost drowned out at times during songs such as “On My Mind” and “Part of Me” due to a louder amp on guitar, but the crowd was still able to pick up on some words.

Both Colombo and Lennox kept gravitating to their tour drummer Noah Bond, who was notorious donning a focused scowl every time he got lost in the music, to check in between songs. There were many glances passed in between members on stage, they didn’t even need to communicate verbally to agree on what was to come next.

The band were almost unknowingly funny, keeping up a relentless banter with the crowd. Before strumming out slower chords to their song “Roxanne,” Lennox made a point to compare it to the more known Police song with the same name. Following that, the band channeled a more psych-rock vibe when they performed “San Francisco,” which was complete with maracas.
As the set got deeper into songs such as “I See You” and “Long Wave,” Bonny Doon became one, not performing for the crowd, but for themselves. Lennox offered some wistful stares as he gazed out across the room when singing softer lyrics, and Colombo had his eyes closed. The music was pulled across the stage by band members and songs began to fade out slowly.

This tour is their hurrah after years of medical troubles and they’re just getting started. The band was spunky and their lyrics held themes of perseverance—they’re back.

Bonny Doon also recently released their new album Let There Be Music.

www.bonnydoontheband.com

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.