Vera Faction and friends play indelible show at 58 Below

I’ll be honest, it’s hard to describe how amazing the show Tourniquets, Startographers, nim and Vera Faction brought to 58 Below this past Saturday truly was.

In fact ‒ in my opinion ‒ the experience emulated many that were once common around the Kenosha music scene: a bar packed full of friends, artists and loud-ass music. I mean, I ran into some people I haven’t seen in quite some time ‒ though I used to see them weekly at mics that now no longer exist.

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I felt a particular swell of pride for one of those people, in particular, Saturday night: Mykal Baas. I have known Baas for at least six years now, I want to say. He has done his solo acoustic thing. He has jumped in with Georgia Rae in her band, and he’s had quite a few side projects around the area.

However, on Saturday, for the first time I saw him as a traditional frontman for a band. Baas has taken over the vocal duties in the band Tourniquets left behind by the late Brennan Havican. And, I have to say, Baas gave an incredible, stand-out performance as the new lead vocals for Tourniquets. He was energetic. He was on the stage, in the crowd and all around the place. And, of course, he hit all the notes and poured all of the right emotion into it.

For someone who has seen him in different variations throughout the years, it was immensely impressive and satisfying to see.

While I am speaking a lot about Baas, that’s not to take away from any other performance. The band nim from Japan really rocked the room at 58 Below. To be honest, I did not know what to expect from them, but nim goes hard, guys. They are legit rockers. And I couldn’t have enjoyed their set more. The same goes for the Startographers from Texas, who actually had local musician Ian Lund playing with them Saturday night.

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However, I have to say that Vera Faction ‒ who closed out the night ‒ and their fans really feed off each other when they’re on stage. That’s something I noticed that is unique about them. I don’t even know if they notice it, but there is an odd symbiosis and give-and-take of energies in a way that’s slightly different than what I see with other musicians. Observing that made having my ears ring for days afterwards well worth it.

Below, please enjoy some photos from the show, and also videos of nim and Vera Faction. And if you really like any of the photos, they are all available for purchase at my online photography shop at Zenfolio here.