San Francisco’s Big Light showed New Yorkers that rock and roll is still alive and well with their energetic performance last Friday night at the Brooklyn Bowl. Big Light released their debut album, Animals In Bloom last March, and are quickly becoming one of the best rock and roll bands in the country. Big Light are following the path of bands like Wilco and Dr. Dog but are most comparable to their Bay Area cousins, the guitar focused rock and rollers, The Mother Hips. Between the release of the fantastically fun and catchy Animals In Bloom and their powerhouse display at the Brooklyn Bowl last Friday, Big Light are proving that they deserve to be recognized as one of the best young rock and roll bands out there.
Big Light originated as a project of frontman Fred Torphy and Torphy’s songs are the centerpiece of Big Light, with all jamming done to serve the song. But Big Light is also guitar lovers dream, with screaming leads from guitarist Jeremy Korpas and loud, crunchy, catchy guitar riffs. Korpas and Torphy have a knack for coming up for guitar riffs like Keith Richards and Mick Taylor, and the flashy guitar work combined with Torphy’s strong lyrics and cool rock and roll sneer create some special music. It’s safe to say that if rock and roll still ruled the airwaves, Big Light would be getting some serious airtime.
Big Light came into being in the musically rich San Francisco, and being surrounded by so many talented friends has undoubtedly accelerated their growth as a band. The band has frequently collaborated with musicians such as singer/songwriter Nathan Moore, Trevor Garrod of Tea Leaf Green, Tim Bluhm of the Mother Hips, and Dan Lebowitz of Animal Liberation Orchestra. Lebowitz made a surprise appearance at the Brooklyn Bowl, lending some pedal steel guitar to “Piece Together Wings,” a song Torphy co-wrote with Surprise Me Mr. Davis frontman Nathan Moore. In their short existence as a band, Big Light have always been incredibly generous with the stage, using it as an opportunity to learn a few tricks from and collaborate with their friends and take songs to new places. Lebowitz’s pedal steel gave Big Light more of a honky tonk country rock sound, which suited the traveling anthem “Piece Together Wings” perfectly.
The band also performed nearly all of the material from their debut album Animals In Bloom, and relentless touring led to these songs sounding stronger than ever at the Brooklyn Bowl. The audience just couldn’t stop dancing and singing along during future rock and roll classics “Good Time of the Year” and “Monsters.” “Heavy” and “Panther” let the band explore some heavy psychedelic jamming, and “Rainbow Eyes” is simply a Fred Torphy masterpiece. “Bonebreaker” was another powerful performance, with a few members of Rotary Downs adding some harmony vocals to what soon will be a sing-along chorus. Sounding like something Neil Young may have written with Crazy Horse, “Bonebreaker” is turning into one of Big Light’s signature songs, with a bruising guitar riff and some mindblowing guitar solos from Korpas. The song clocked out at around ten minutes, giving the band plenty of space to flex their instrumental muscles. Korpas shined with guitar solos on just about every song, but never more than on “Bonebreaker,” where he completely floored the crowd.
With screaming guitar solos, powerful riffs, a rock solid rhythm section, and a frontman with savvy stage presence, Big Light don’t try to hide their classic rock influences. But Torphy’s fantastic original songs combined with the band’s creative musicianship means Big Light is far from a nostalgia act. These are fresh songs that will live in your head, and defy time, sounding both classic yet contemporary at the same time. This is fun, life-affirming rock and roll at its finest, and it was clear from the Brooklyn Bowl show that Big Light is shining now, and although the current lineup has been together for only one year, they are one of the very best rock and roll bands out there and not to be missed. 
