Before we get started and you begin audiating my rambling, I strongly suggest giving yourself a bit of a grasp on what we’re about to be delving into today. Particularly those who have never heard of Rocco DeLuca before. Do yourself a favor and put your “reading mode” aside to give this little video a watch. It doesn’t do the live show justice, but I feel it’s a nice introductory to help make the following write-up come to life and be a bit more enjoyable.
…And so it goes, two gentlemen sit facing each other on Rough Trade’s glowing blue stage. One on a throne behind a small three piece drum kit, the other to his left siting upon the top portion of a dead combo road case with a lap steel draped over his knees. He goes by the name of Rocco DeLuca.
Instead of doing a proper sound check prior to doors, the two decided to keep things raw and intimate by abruptly breaking the soft chatter of the audience with an abrasive line check. This being my first Rocco experience, I wasn’t sure what to expect and was questioning if I was witnessing a performance, pre-performance jam, line check, or who the fuck knows what, but regardless, the crowd being familiar with Rocco seemed just as confused, but contagiously and simultaneously we all in uniform gradually motioned toward the stage.
The jamming came to a halt and the set began. At that time, (and within minutes) the purity of the performance I was witnessing felt as though it was a one of a kind show in that both musicians seemed to be pouring their soul into their instruments (vocals, lap steel and drums) not having a clue what was about to come out of them, nor a care, because the musicianship and chemistry the duo shared was uncanny.
I would also like to touch on the sound and tone coming from the stage. This lap steel wasn’t played like any ordinary lap steel, it was played with more dynamics than I thought possible, going from the softest finger picking with a volume pedal at next to 0 db to a full slamming of the slide, strumming with a pick and volume pedal on full throttle causing the most perfect color, depth and break up gain to come out of an instrument and amps. Speaking of amps, we’re having a dual out from this lap steel shoot to both a vintage Fender combo amp providing the clear high end break ups along side an 8×10 bass cabinet on its side powered by a Fender Bassman filling the chests of every audience member in the room with the deepest, warmest low end.
Complimenting Rocco’s lap steal was his inevitably embracing pipes (vocals), which encompass a vast variety of tones and styles. This man could cut open your spine with his jabbing tenor articulations and then run shivers down your arms with his almost inaudible trailing falsetto within a single phrase. What further magnified this was his painfully sincere and honest lyrics. There was no beating around the bush here by any means.
Last, but certainly not least was the drum performance that seamlessly interweaved with the lap steel and itself. What I mean by “itself” is the use of dynamically subtle polyrhythms underlying a very apparent downbeat. The three (vocals, lap steel and drums) seemed to be having a contest of who could lay back the most on the beat, while keeping the BMPs consistent. The two gentlemen watched each other very closely and clearly vibed off each other to keep the vast dynamic range rising and falling in unison.
The performance ended leaving the crowd starved for more to the point of an encore of “one more song” and numerous different song names being blurted out in attempts to have the duo’s performance commence. Flattered they modestly both accepted and returned to the stage. Rocco decided to switch to a nice uniquely shaped Danelctro guitar with lipstick pick-ups (are all Danelctros shaped weird, and do they all have lip stick pick-ups?…I know, “google it” you say, right? Fuck off). I found this swap extremely humorous in that throughout the entire set, there was a slight high pitched buzzing coming from the amp, and at this point (the encore) he decided to assess the problem asking the audience if he should try hitting the ground switch. The buzz switched to a low hum that was equivalently distracting, but only when attention such as this was brought to it. Conclusion prior to the encore?…turn it off.
Everyone was very pleased and familiar with the encore the duo closed the show with. Afterwards we exchanged a few words to find that tomorrow (which is now today 9/3) they are playing in Boston. The two are to be traveling “figure eights” around the country with their friend (who is assisting with selling merch). All three are living a life on the open road as the summer wraps up and trickles into fall. If you happen to see Rocco DeLuca hitting your neck of the woods, I strongly suggest you go out to see a once in a lifetime show and support these fine you men.
Thanks for tuning into SwitchBitch Noise!
Much love,
Mike Abiuso
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