Staff Editor on November 24th, 2019

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Death Valley Girls’ Bonnie Bloomgarden played a true angel dressed in white while flanked by bandmates in black on a night where they brought their proto-punk music to the Lodge Room. Warm embraces kicked the night off prior to the band playing a 12-song set that focused on their 2018 release “Darkness Rains” and 2016’s “Glow In The Dark.” The night’s tone was set by opening song “Abre Camino’s” driving rhythms, along with a friend posed kneeling in prayer, hands pointed to the heavens.

Though the crowd came for Death Valley Girls, the night was blessed by two young girls who both looked to be younger than 10. Both were front and center, with one hugging her Death Valley Girl vinyl tightly. When a photographer’s prism broke, he handed the prism to one of the children. Bloomgarden happened to notice the exchange and during a song break went over to the child and asked for the prism. She then briefly held it up to her eye, “That’s so cool,” before handing it back to the child. The attention was a little overwhelming for the child as the crowd started to chant her name, and Bloomgarden showed her angel side by making sure all was OK. To make up, the band went into “Disco” and gave the child a focused private concert.

As the set came to a conclusion, the band went into “Electric High.” Bloomgarden jumped off stage and brought the two kids to her, singing directly to them. To not ignore the larger audience, mid-song she went into the crowd and started a scrum that sent security rushing over to make sure she wasn’t squeezed too tightly by fans. The band walked off stage with Bloomgarden yelling out, “Pro justice, pro peace!”

With the night just shy of midnight, which might be the curtain time at the Lodge Room, the band came out with a one-song encore that might or might not have been about Satan.

Preceding the headliner were the Crocodiles, who did double duty for the night as they also backed Los Angeles’ Kate Clover. Clover’s relentless rock had her saying from the start, “I’m Kate Clover or what’s left of me under these lights.” Her passion also left her bleeding. At some point during the set, she did something that left a bleeding gash on her left foot. As for Crocodiles, they left their instruments on stage after Clover’s set and then came back on stage after a wardrobe change. Their music had the crowd head bobbing, a sure sign of approval.

Statement of the night, “You don’t have to do anything else this month, because you did something tonight!”

Death Valley Girls setlist: Abre Camino, Street Justice, More Dead, Death Valley Boogie, Sanitarium Blues, Disco, I’m A Man Too, Wear Black, Dream Cleaver, Disaster (Is What We’re After), Electric High. Encore: 666

Photos and recap by Notes From Vivace