"Watch the drummer," I was told

"Watch the drummer," I was told

Every year I see at least one band that know next to nothing about, yet they become one of my favorites of the fest. Vato Negro definitely falls into this category. All I knew is that one or more of the trio come from the Mars Volta and that the set was mostly improvised. Then I ended up hitching a ride with on one of the backroads. The driver was a guitar tech for the band. “Watch the drummer,” he says, “He’s amazing.” The guy wasn’t lying.

Holding together an amorphous mass of treated riffs and crunching baselines ain’t easy, but this drummer kept them barreling forward without jumping the rails. Shards of distortion intertwined effect-laden vocals that served only to propel a groove that sounded like King Crimson and early Police filtered through heavy metal. The crowd was small but grew exponentially as they played on, only stopping for the occasional “Arigato” to the crowd. Fans were made today.