Smoke Season is the up and coming band that you wish you were in. Jason Rosen is the guitarist that pop music is desperately looking for and Gabrielle Wortman is the sexy front woman that is helping to bring soul back to the forefront of mainstream airwaves and playlists. So it was great having them in Brooklyn all the way from L.A. for the night to give the NYC music scene a little boost on how it’s done, even if it was just for one night.
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Having steadily released material since their formation in 2012, the duo joined by a drummer took their unique sound to the next level giving a solidly crowded Rough Trade a fantastic show on a Tuesday night. Gabrielle’s vocal power and extremely sexual performance of her style of pop and soul drew everyone’s eyes and ears with her incredible pipes that carry the power and range somewhere between Celine Dion and Carah Faye Charnow. Her abilities balance perfectly with Rosen’s hazy but diversified style and sound on his guitar that makes up the Smoke Season machine.
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
“You could call this song one of our OG songs” Wortman said with a smirk before going into “Opaque” early on in the set. They proceeded to go into the slow and sexy R&B-based jam “When The Smoke Clears.” The band’s new single “Bees” and “Simmer Down” off their 2014 EP Hot Coals Cold Souls was also on the set list.
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
Smoke Season
One can certainly appreciate their songs, which run a little longer into the four or five minute marks, letting the songs evolve and take their own performance paths rather than rush and make sure they’re fitted for FM pop airplay or whatever the fuck Ryan Seacrest is doing now.
Article: Tom Shackleford
Photos: Nicholas Fallon
