Review of Slaughter Beach, Dog | Ace Youngblood
APRIL 14, 2024 AT NEIGHBORHOOD THEATRE
On April 4th this year, I drove to a venue in Charlotte called Neighborhood Theatre for a Slaughter Beach, Dog concert.
Slaughter Beach, Dog is an indie rock band that is especially good at lyricism, riffs, and has a smooth overall feeling. The venue really impressed me, as I found that the building was clean, uncrowded, and all the employees were very friendly and polite. I thought the music volume was really comfortable, the lights were at a good brightness and pretty shades of blue and purple. There was also no wait for the music to start, which was great because I am used to 30-60 minute gaps between the doors closing and the opener, as well as the gap between the opener and the main band.
I really recommend the Neighborhood Theater, they had chairs available and it was easy to see the stage no matter how tall the guy standing in front of me was. Overall I thought it was an amazing concert, and I’d recommend anyone to start listening to these artists or go to
their concerts!
Erin Rae was the opening artist, and I would describe her music as indie acoustic coffee house. My initial thought when I heard her was that my Mom would love her music. Her music was simple, relaxing, and slow paced. Her vocal ability was also incredible and her singing was really beautiful. Some of my favorite songs that she played were “Can’t Cut Loose,” “Bad Mind,” and “Wild Blue Wind.” Those songs were from her 2018 record, Putting On Airs. From her other album, Lighten Up, I liked “California Belongs to You” and “Enemy.” After seeing her live, Erin Rae is my favorite artist of this genre.
Slaughter Beach, Dog came on after her, and I was honestly surprised with how the performance went. Because of Spotify artist pictures and other promotions, I hadn’t realized that the band was a solo project, by one guy named Jake Ewald. Ewald was a former member of the band Modern Baseball. Modern Baseball is a midwest emo band that I’ve been a fan of as well, but they’ve been split since around 2017. The name of Slaughter Beach, Dog is a very odd one, but I found a 2018 interview Ewald had with a University of Georgia radio station called WUOG, Ewald said that he wanted to have the namesake of Slaughter Beach, a town in Delaware. However, there was already a UK band by that name, so he added dog at the end.
I was sad that he didn’t play most of my favorites (“Your Cat,” “Gold and Green,” “Phoenix,” and “Pretty O.K.”) but I did really like how he added covers of another artist’s music into his set. I also loved the acoustic cover of “Acolyte” that he performed, which was the song that introduced me to the artist in the first place with a catchy intro riff and satisfying whistle chorus. Some of the songs he played were “Bobcat Club,” “Glowing,” “Strange Weather,” and “Float Away.” The covers he played were “I’ll Be Here in The Morning” by Don Williams, “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” by Kurt Vile, and “Everyday” by the Busks. I liked those songs, but I think my favorites that he played were “Are You There,” “Acolyte,” “Summer Windows,” and “My Girl.”
Erin Rae also came onstage to duet with him, and their harmonization was absolutely incredible. I thought that it escalated the overall performance by so much and I absolutely loved it. When they brought out a harmonica the crowd cheered, and during the whistle part of “Acolyte", the crowd joined in, and the crowd participation just made the concert that much more incredible.
Ace Youngblood
