After retiring from public view last June and holing up in the garage to prepare and record a new block of songs in the all instrumental format, Kieskagato tested the waters of live performance for the first time this past weekend. We drove 200 miles east from Portland- through the Columbia River Gorge and out across the plains to the place where the old Oregon Trail descended out of the Blue Mountains onto the desert floor: Pendleton, OR. Pendleton has become known to many Portland bands as a great place to play; it is home to many supportive and enthusiastic music fans of all ages as well as some old friends of ours.
Having not yet played our new music for the public, we were a bit nervous about how things would go over. Kieskagato has gone through many phases of development over the years, but the jettisoning of vocals may be the most radical change yet. That said, what better place to put it all on the table than a bar full of drunken cowboys?
Well, the cowboys approved. The crowd was fantastic, turning the bar into a dance club within a few notes of the start of our set. We only had seven songs ready to perform, so things ran a bit short, but we had a great time playing and the energy level stayed high throughout the set. The band came away from this performance more eager than ever to continue working on new material. We’re looking to move away from the 40 minute set standard of the rock club environment and towards longer sets that draw from a much larger book of tunes and feature much more improvisation.
