Last Saturday the Dada Club housed Charleston-based progressive Americana band SUSTO (which stands for a Spanish word referring to a folk illness in Latin America.
They filled the venue with their psychedelic folk tunes including songs from their latest album & I’m Fine Today and their self entitled album SUSTO.
This was more of an intimate venue but I can assure you every corner had someone enjoying their tunes. Lead singer Justin Osborne lead the performance almost melting his soul while performing “Jah Werx.” He is a story teller and through the bands instrumentals and intimate lyrics they take you into their world. They audience was invested in their performance. You can tell an audience is invested when they don’t bother to look at their phones. It is hard not to be invested in a performance when once can clearly tell everyone in the band is gracefully pulling their own weight.
Jenna Desmond set the bar high with her bass lines. Dries Vandenberg melted into every chord as he dominated his guitar. Corey Campbell added those clear psychedelic undertones with his keys and guitar pedal board, and Marshall Hudson (who was celebrating his birthday that night) took it away on drums. They really do form the perfect alternative folk band. They seem like quite simple people with an immense love for what they do- no extra fluff needed. Just their instruments and their stories.
SUSTO nearly closed out their set with one of my favorite songs: “Cigarettes, Whiskey, & Wine.” They went from amazing to electric during this song. The music stopped for a second. Which lead me to believe they had skipped the cool instrumental part, then Justin spewed a mouthful of water into the air and the band broke loose into that cool instrumental outro.
SUSTO is not your typical pop band at all. They bring something new and mysterious to today’s music scene- which is refreshing. And hey they are still on tour for a while, so I would definitely try to catch them in your town.
Writing & Photography By: Maria Limon| Instagram: @shotbylimon
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Check out our interview with the band by clicking the link below:
SUSTO INTERVIEW: http://musicwhynot.com/susto/
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