The Black Pistol Fire Experience Is About As Rock And Roll As It Gets

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA- When my Blurred Culture colleague Cortney submitted her coverage of Black Pistol Fire‘s gig at the Bowery Ballroom, I immediately scoured to the Interwebs to learn more about this band. I mean, if this blues rock duo sounded even half as awesome as the badass photos I Cortney sent over, then adding them to my “Must See” list would be a given. Apparently, I’m late to the game.

Seven years and five albums into a recording career, Eric Owen and Kevin McKeown made some serious noise in 2017 with their relentless touring schedule and the wild abandon they played with each night. With major publications hyping their live performances on the festival circuit- earning rave reviews that bested even those reviews for festival headliners- my excitement for their headlining performance in support of their newest album (“Deadbeat Graffiti”) at the venerable Troubadour was at an unprecedented high.

By the time Black Pistol Fire took the stage, the crowd was rowdy and ready rock. In fact, even though I had positioned myself up front early, I was literally fending off the band’s fans from pushing me out of my location throughout the performance. But when the music and performance rock as hard and relentless as these guys do, you’d be a fool not to get lost in the passion with them.

Kevin McKeown (guitar and vocals) knows how to rile up a crowd. His energy is ferocious. He’s like a wild wolf that hasn’t had anything to eat in days, attacking it’s prey like his life depended on it without regard to his own safety. From launching himself and flying through the air from his partner’s kick drum, to leaping on top of the venue’s huge speaker system, to surfing on the outstretched and eager arms of the audience as he shred licks on his guitar, Kevin’s performance was as wild and uninhibited as I’ve ever seen… and I’ve seen a lot.

While Kevin is surely the focal point of the performance, Black Pistol Fire’s drummer (Eric Owen), matched Kevin’s ferocity with every smash of his drums. With his grizzled beard and the intensity in his eyes as his long hair danced around his face, Eric looked like a man possessed. The only times he “broke character” was when Kevin would stare at him and they’d lock eyes communicating on some existential musical plane during the perofrmance.

There a lot of blues rock bands these days. There are a lot blues rock bands that are duos. In fact, there are a lot of blues rock bands that make some kick ass music … But there’s a reason why Black Pistol Fire has been able to keep rocking for seven years whiled recording and releasing five albums. Black Pistol Fire is fire on stage and as rock and roll as it gets.

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