I caught Buckets for the first time in 2021 once venues started to open up after the 2020 shutdown. They were part of an outdoor mini-festival called Big Top DIY Fest that was held in someone's backyard in Highland Park. It represented my fifth time catching live music once again (there were technically some other events that I attended during the shutdown, but those were relatively small groups of people that were producing streaming content and I was the photographer).
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| Buckets at The Semi-Tropic |
Since that point in time, I've continued to follow the band around Los Angeles. The year 2023 was interesting in terms of my connection with the band as I covered them both for Buzzbands (here) and US Rocker Music (here).
I caught up with them recently once again during what I call Echo Park Rising's pre-party (Friday) at The Semi-Tropic. The line-up was packed with favorite bands such as Giant Waste of Man, MACKandgold, and The Blushes.
You do get the sense that the band has a bond of friendship just based on the teasing that occurred on stage. When lead singer Tanner Houghton asked a friend in the audience to get him a drink before the set started, the response from the band was that somehow he is always able to get someone to buy him a drink, "He's not a lead singer. He's a grifter." When guitarist Sasha Massey mentioned that it was taking longer than anticipated to tune his guitar due to new strings, Houghton mimicked him with, "I just put new strings on this guitar." Massey cracked a smile and chuckled.
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| Buckets at The Semi-Tropic |
One of the traditions of watching a Buckets set is the band chant. Houghton turned to the audience at one point and got everyone to chant, "Buckets! Buckets! Buckets!" If they stop doing that chant, I'd probably leave the set thinking that it was a downer and maybe not knowing exactly why. For the night, they expanded the chant to other words. "Pizza and Echo Park Rising" were chanted and then a chant for bassist Mitch Rossiter, "Mitch! Mitch! Mitch!"
Comment of the set: It is my first time using a microphone.
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| Buckets at The Semi-Tropic |
The song "Judy" opens up with the clashing blasts of instruments before chilling alternative rock fashion to allow Houghton's vocals to take center stage. Judy is a pet dog who obviously has concerns about her owner. The music video has the band dressed in prison clothing. Combine that clothing with the lyrics and I'm guessing the song is about feeling like life is a momentary prison.
I seem to talk a lotI guess I don't say much
Drink until I'm hardly walkin' and I'll call it a crutch
Setlist: I Give Up, Judy, Slipping, Naked, Looking, Better, Wishing, Smokey.
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