Richard Lloyd Group/Skull Practitioners/Faith NYC @ Heaven Can Wait, New York, NY 10/4/24

I was itching to go to something even though I felt like I saw Richard Lloyd recently enough. A couple years had gone by since he played on the canceled Dead Boys bill at the now closed St. Vitus club in Greenpoint, so I guess time has indeed passed. It just wasn't the 15 years or so prior where I witnessed Lloyd in a short lived basement venue at Webster Hall where he delivered a mind blowing set featuring like 6 Hendrix covers. Nowadays, Lloyd pulls from all over his catalog from Television warhorses like "See No Evil" to "Field of Fire" to newer material. He closed with "Eight Miles High" which I remember him covering a couple years back as well.

Skull Practitioners have emerged as one of NYC's current "bill openers for older headliner" bands. They have been on the long established Chicago label In The Red so at some point they'll move into "headline" position. As for now, guitarist Jason Victor does double duty with the Dream Syndicate. I don't know if he is playing with Steve Wynn currently, but since I have a free ticket for his show Tuesday, I will find out and report back to you.

Faith NYC are one of those long running local bands that were appropriate for Lloyd. Straight up old school Rock/Soul/Reggae hybrid, with a female vocalist that has a feel vibe somewhere in the vicinity of Joan Armatrading crossed with a 70's pre-punk straight rock vibe. That sort of anything goes thing that came out of the 60's which of course is Lloyd generation. Without irony, talent without fear of calling a song a single even if there is no traditional outlet to create an actual hit record. People doing it because they love it and are serious about their music over many years is something I fully appreciate.