Karen Ponzio Photo
Murdervan
“Murdervan is my favorite New Haven band,” said Jeffrey Thunders of The Ratz during their opening set at Three Sheets on Tuesday night. “And I haven’t seen The Danglers in years. I can’t wait.”
Thunders was not only a performer on this steamy Fourth of July eve, but also a friend and fan of the two bands to follow. The room was full of similar men and women all there to see three bands brought together to celebrate a homecoming.
According to Little Brother Cousin Eddie, drummer for The Danglers, a show was put together knowing that Shaun Bowen, vocalist and guitarist for Murdervan, was to be home visiting New Haven this week from California, where he now lives. Bowen had previously been in a band with other members of The Danglers called 420 Blackbirds and is good friends with members of The Ratz, so these bands were called together, which also necessitated the return of Dwight Dangler, vocalist, who now lives in Kentucky.
A decent sized crowd had already built up by the time The Ratz hit the stage for a short but fast and furious set of high-velocity punk tunes. Thunders on guitar and vocals, Matt Mullarky on bass and vocals, and Elvis (the New Haven one, not the other one) on drums and vocals got the party started with minimal talk and maximal energy, though Thunders did make time to acknowledge the other bands as well as raise a glass to recently deceased punk legend Steve Soto of Agent Orange and The Adolescents. (“I wouldn’t be here without him, and some of you wouldn’t either I’m sure.”) The band sped through its 12-song set, including “Queen of Chaos,” which saw Mullarky on lead vocals, and “Fight Tonight,” which got fists raised from Thunders and a few in the crowd.
“Who lets me play guitar?” Thunders joked, but the music more that got the crowd warm for what was to come.
The Danglers came to the stage next with two members — Darla Dangler on bass and vocals and Dre Dangler on guitar — on the floor in front of the stage, with the other three — drummer Little Brother Cousin Eddie, guitarist Dewey Dangler, and vocalist Dwight — on the stage itself. According to Eddie, the band had been together and playing on and off for 10 to 12 years and had not played together for the past year and a half, though Darla shouted out during the set that it was more like two and a half. One would not have suspected it by their playing but the anticipation and subsequent reaction from the crowd acknowledged that this was a band they were longing to hear again. All the sweat and swagger from Dwight backed by the down and dirty bluesy rock ‘n’ roll created by these musicians got the ever growing crowd elated. There was dancing. There was shaking. There was singing along and screaming. The room did not seem like it could have gotten hotter or more full with fans, but it did. If a drink got spilled, the wetness was refreshing.
Murdervan saw Shaun Bowen on guitar and vocals and Andre Roman on bass and vocals set up in front of the stage while drummer Adoni Leftkimiatis remained onstage. Though some had gone outside to get what air they could in between acts, they immediately came back in to press the room to its edges to see this intense and frantically fun hard-rocking band that last performed two years ago at Bowen’s going-away show at the Outer Space.
This reporter has given you two videos to watch because as much as it is my job to describe the performances to the best of my ability, Murdervan is a Be There kind of band. Loud? Well, yes. They are easily one of the loudest, but the quality of the music was never sacrificed for volume. Leftkimiatis and Roman crushed the beat while Bowen became one with mic and guitar, creating an almost dance of the two as he soloed and sent the room into a sonic high. By the fourth song the three had that pulse going that takes the whole crowd with them. They added a KISS cover in with their originals and ended with an extended final song that saw both Roman and Bowen manipulating their pedal boards on the floor and making the floor and walls hum and roar. The crowd erupted in applause and screams and shouts.
“I’m so happy to be here,” Bowen said during and after the set. “I love being home. I love it here.”
