White Reaper Rocks Out @ The Basement East
Necks were broken, heads were banged, and bodies were surfing. When White Reaper took the stage in Nashville on March 24th, the crowd at The Basement East exploded.
The first opener to take the stage was Mamalarky. The indie bedroom rock group incorporated flashy keyboard riffs and vocal harmonies that couldn’t express themselves more accurately. They performed songs off of their 2022 LP, Pocket Fancy, as well as their earlier songs from 2020. They closed by saying, “We’re weird as fuck, we know that. But White Reaper took a chance on us and y’all are in for a fuckin’ treat”, leaving the audience buzzing with anticipation.
Mamalarky left the stage and welcomed on the second openers, Militarie Gun. As soon as the crowd saw them, the room erupted. With a much heavier energy, Militarie Gun first and foremost encouraged everyone to get comfortable with one another, as we were all going to start moshing seconds later. The LA based group just released their latest single, “Do It Faster”, which brings out the more rock side of them, rather than the more apparent metal performance that they gave.
If Mamalarky and Militarie Gun were meshed together, they would create White Reaper, making them the perfect opening acts for this show. The sold out audience hollered as they started with “Make Me Wanna Die”, off of their 2015 LP, White Reaper Does It Again. They moved into songs from their 2023 album, Asking For A Ride and once again, the entire room transformed into a mosh pit. Some fans tried to hold their ground, but eventually accepted the fact that moshing was just a part of this experience. Fans got engulfed by the energy and started jumping on stage, only to jump back into the crowd and surf around the room.
The band made themselves at home on the stage, as Ryan Hater on the keyboard passed a bottle of wine around to his bandmates. They all cracked jokes with one another and made sure that they were keeping the audience on their toes. The set highlights were “Sheila”, “Might Be Right”, and “Pink Slip”. Anyone in the room could tell that each part of the band complimented the others perfectly, and everyone was buck wild; just there to be carried away by the music.
White Reaper’s shows continue as we enter festival season. They’ll be in Columbus on May 28th, performing at Sonic Temple. White Reaper is also going to be playing alongside the Foo Fighters and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at the Harley Davidson Homecoming Festival in July. Additionally, they’re joining Weezer, Modest Mouse, and several others for the Indie Rock Road Trip this August.
Stream Asking For A Ride and keep your eyes out for White Reaper, the band from Louisville, Kentucky, who are quickly climbing to the top of the rock scene.
(Cover Photo by cjharvey2 via Instagram)