Jaguar Love at the Beauty Bar
Ok, so I started my night off at HOB to see The National. I never really got into them during the 30 minutes of their set that I stayed for, party because the sound mix was bad and Matt Berninger’s vocals were muddied in the mix. His vocals make the band for me, so I wasn’t feeling it. Plus that crowd was weird. And I really wanted to be at Beauty Bar to see Jaguar Love, so I hi-tailed it out of there to see if I could catch them.
My timing was impeccable. I walked up and Johnny Whitney (their lead singer) was outside on the phone so that was a good sign. Got in, got a Stella and hung out in the corner in the front to be ready for photos.
So Jaguar Love, if you didn’t know, is Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato from the recently defunct Blood Brothers along with J Clark, formerly of the also defunct Pretty Girls Make Graves. I was a huge fan of the Blood Brothers (especially their live shows) so I was practically foaming at the mouth to catch them in the tiny space of the Beauty Bar. The crowd definitely filled in by the time they went on - the patio was full but not packed.
If you’ve ever seen the Blood Brothers, you know that Johnny puts on a show. That was still the case here.
(Johnny Whitney)
(Johnny Whitney and Codo Votolato)
Jaguar Love’s sound is less abrasive than the Blood Brothers - it’s a little more dance than rock. Not a bad thing. Since I have only heard their single “Bats Over the Pacific Ocean” (which they played as the second song of their set), I wasn’t familiar with their material, but I was definitely digging on it. I love Johnny’s vocals and the band seemed to be really comfortable with each other even though they have only played a handful of shows. They did have a bass player/2nd guitarist and a keyboard player with them as well, which was good.
(Cody, J Clark and their bass player/2nd guitarist - I’ll have to track down who he is later)
Johnny used to have keyboard duty with the Blood Brothers which limited his movement on stage. I was much happier with him concentrating on his vocals and being the central point of focus. He is just incredible to watch and I did get some good photos of him.
(More Johnny)
Their EP is out on Tuesday - more details in my weekly release post, but for now, grab “Bats Over the Pacific Ocean” in the listen section. You can view all the photos here.
Jaguar Love - Bats Over The Pacific Ocean
