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Frontwomen stand out at Reno’s Off Beat Festival

Tahoe Onstage
Grace Jones meets Nancy Sinatra: Alexis Young and the Vancouver, B.C. band Youngblood in the 3rd Street Bar on Friday during the Off Beat Music Festival.
Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage

The Off Beat Music Festival concludes tonight. Here’s what happened last night. SCHEDULE

Reno’s Off Beat Music Festival is a dream come true for lovers of live music. On Friday, 18 venues presented a full-lineup of bands, including several with charismatic and dynamic frontwomen — Youngblood’s Alexis Young, San Francisco’s Rossana Schneider, and hometown singers Margy Ford of Roxxie Collie and Ashley Costelloe of Pink Awful. Off Beat continues tonight. Overnight, stay up late to catch Youngblood for a 2 a.m. performance at Alturus On The Downlow.

Tahoe Onstage
Youngblood – Vancouver, B.C.’s electronic pop outfit, Youngblood, explode across the stage at the 3rd Street Bar. Fronted by the flamboyant and dramatic Alexis Young, the band’s live performance betrays their relatively young progression as a project. It is the discovery of new music such as Youngblood that captures the purpose and potential of weekend-long festivals.
Shuan Astor / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Roxxy Collie – Roxxy Collie frontwoman Margy Ford leads the five-piece Reno band’s chill rock performance at the 3rd Street Bar. The bar’s dim lights worked to emphasize the esoteric vibe of the band’s customary bird masks and Margy’s roaring vocal power.
Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Pink Awful – Ashley Costelloe’s visceral vocals on top of Mike Miller’s high-pitched guitar licks opens Off Beat at Shea’s.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Swoop Unit – Rossana Schneider — and the San Francisco funk-jazz boogaloo band that includes a three-piece horn section — had everyone smiling and dancing in The Saint, which had a packed house on Friday night.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Bang Data – Oakland’s Bang Data performs in the Eldorado Theater. The Latin hip-hop group’s blending of musical styles and onstage energy brought a dance flavor to the casino showroom’s floor.
Shaun Astor
Tahoe Onstage
Octophonix – Reno-based producer Octophonix performs on the Circus Circus Midway for the Holland Project’s all-ages Off Beat Fest showcase. The unconventional venue attracted crowds and onlookers and turned the casino area into a dance floor with his electroblip beats on Friday night.
Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Cuco – Los Angeles artist Cuco headlines the Holland Project-curated all ages show on the Circus Circus Midway. Playing between live midway games and between acrobat and trapeze performers’ acts, the casino’s carnival atmosphere provided a lively backdrop for the Spanish dream-pop stylings of Cuco and his touring band.
Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage

Tahoe Onstage
Cuco’s fan base is enthusiastic and mostly female.
Shaun Astor / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Drinking With Clowns – The tightest performance of the night belongs to Drinking With Clowns at the Eldorado Theater. The band is from Reno by way of Asuncion, Bogota, Mexico City, Veracruz, Guadalajara. The Latin sound also featured keyboards and trombones from Reno’s top jazz cat Tristan Selzler, who must have nine lives because he’s everywhere.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage
Everyday Outlaw – Eldorado’s NoVi was packed for a night of country, including Jake Zender with Truckee’s Everyday Outlaw. Zender’s monitor wasn’t working but his baritone voice prevailed as men in cowboy hats danced with women in tight jeans.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage

 

ABOUT Shaun Astor

Picture of Shaun Astor
Shaun Astor cites pop music singers and social deviants as being among his strongest influences. His vices include vegan baking, riding a bicycle unreasonable distances and fixating on places and ideas that make up the subject of the sentence, "But that’s impossible…" He splits his time between Reno and a hammock perched from ghost town building foundations. Check out his work at www.raisethestakeseditions.com

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