Concert review: All Them Witches brought its magic to Columbus

Ashley Layne
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 17:02:09 +0000
Arts & Life, Music, a&r music bar, All Them Witches, Forecastle Festival, King Buffalo, Michael Parks Jr., nashville, Nelsonville Music Festival, The Marriage of Coyote Woman

Nashville, Tennessee-based band, All Them Witches performed at A&R Music Bar on Wednesday night. Credit: Courtesy of Robby Staebler.

All Them Witches, a quartet from Nashville, Tennessee, cast a spell on A&R Music Bar in Columbus on Wednesday night.

The band seemed to have gained a small following in Central Ohio, maybe due in part to their appearances at nearby music festivals this year such as Nelsonville Music Festival in Ohio and Forecastle Festival in Kentucky.

The band finally took the stage at 10:30 p.m. after roaming around among the crowd during opening act King Buffalo, who would serve to complement All Them Witches perfectly. ?

After fiddling around for a few minutes while tuning their instruments, the band launched into an hourlong set that was full of rock music clearly influenced by bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath.

While a love of classic rock is apparent in All Them Witches’ overall sound, the band has managed to carve out its own style. It laces modern hard rock with guitar riffs reminiscent of the best ‘70s rock music.

The band also showed some versatility with its song, “The Marriage of Coyote Woman.” The bluesy-soulful tune was a departure from the majority of their heavy rock set.

Michael Parks, Jr. covers bass and vocals for All Them Witches. His vocals are a nice asset to the band. The southern cadence could be heard as Parks projected the lyrics loud enough to to be heard over the booming instruments surrounding it. He brought added entertainment to the show by furiously strumming and plucking away at the instrument throughout the night.

Although there were several points during the set where I had trouble actually understanding the words Parks was singing, but the band itself was so impressive and powerful that it almost didn’t matter.

All Them Witches’ music is made for a live audience. Having a music catalog that contains a handful of songs that stretch over five minutes in length, the band brought those studio-jam sessions to life in front of the crowd.

The downside to extending each song during a 60-minute live performance is that it doesn’t allow the band to rip through a lot of its material. All Them Witches made sure to make up for the lack of songs by playing each one with such force and energy that there is no way you could leave feeling disappointed.
All Them Witches made it apparent at the A&R Bar last night that it is are a band to watch. To see the band in such a small venue was a privilege, because I predict whenever they roll back through Columbus, they will be playing at EXPRESS LIVE! next door.