The Saint hosts ‘onslaught of musicians ready to shred’

Six Mile Station is a Reno supergroup with roots in folk, punk and pirate rock. They opened Sunday  for The Accidentals and Moon Hooch at The Saint in Reno.

“I like us best as a six-piece,” lead singer and guitarist Spike McGuire said.

This was only guitar and horn player Chris Fox’s second show with the band. His first was more than two years ago. Despite only practicing with the band once before this gig, they sounded sublimely in sync. Fox and McGuire traded lead lines with the banjo and violin flawlessly. They are a cacophony of sound and influence.

One side of McGuire’s vocal approach is a rich, calm baritone, the other is a scream that can be heard from your parking spot.

No matter the venue, the horn section of Six Mile eventually hops off the stage to mingle with the crowd mid-song. Fox was joined by multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire John Underwood on trombone.

The Accidentals are a three-piece band fronted by two multi-instrumentalists from northern Michigan. Savannah Buist and Katie Larson play guitar, bass, violin and electric cello between them. They both also have sweet voices that mix with their drummer’s for harmonies. The drummer Michael Dause’s shirt read “Eat, Sleep, Folk, Repeat.”

They had a bold, unabashed approach to their instruments. Their sound was simplistic, and extremely engaging. It was a focused simplicity.

When they played the violin and electric cello with a bow together it was magical. Their staccato version of MGMT’s Kids and Muse’s Hysteria were unique and gratified the bouncing crowd toward the end of their set.

Moon Hooch is a three-piece from New York that got its start performing in NYC subway stations.

Their two relentless horn players switch between contrabass clarinet, tenor, baritone, soprano sax and keyboards. They are basically Bigger Gigantic.

They both went mad onstage. Michael Wilbur was blaring a soprano sax solo while barefoot, wearing jeans in a power stance. Wenzl McGowen uses his baritone sax for dub bass notes and fired them at members of the audience.

Their energy is unrelenting. There was no small talk or pleasantries, just music. They played an array of vibes from dark and brooding to “upbeat ’80s Huey Lewis.” Most of their set was bluesy and leaned toward dance music, and the crowd reciprocated.

The Saint was shaking. As icing on the cake, McGowen fitted an orange parking cone to the horn of his sax to further blow the roof off the Reno venue.

The show featured an onslaught of musicians ready to shred on anything.

– Tony Contini

Moon Hooch

Six Mile Station

The Accidentals