By Katarina Hybenova
A pleasantly sized crowd – not too small, but not too big either – was chilling in front of Lone Wolf, a dive bar on the corner of Broadway and Dodworth. It was after 10pm. “The concerts haven’t started yet,” someone said in the crowd. After a frantic bike ride and an even more frantic hunt for a suitable pole to lock my blue Myata, it was great not to be late for once. Broadway on Saturday night underneath the subway tracks looks like a different planet. The emptiness of the usually busy street was replaced by silence, which was only occasionally interrupted by the laughter of a group of dressed-to-impress transvestites or the far away beat of salsa coming from someone’s basement. jojo SOUL, my homie and Bushwick Daily Radio star, was the tallest and smoking like chimney. Maybe a little nervous? He was about to DJ with the hip hop trio Brothers from Another.
With a guitar on her back, Gillian Visco, dressed in black, slim and charismatic as always approached from the darkness. A member of Photon Dynamo and The Shiny Pieces, pressed her lips firmly when she told me that John Swanson, their drummer, left them and moved to Austin, TX. “He went to SXSW, and decided to stay in Austin…” Gillian said almost as if she couldn’t believe it. Frank Rathbone, another member of this locally super-popular rock ’n’ roll band looked a bit sad too. They were going to play only as a duo switching between the guitar and the drums. “We’re not ready to replace John yet,” Gillian said, and I swear it seemed like she was going through a break up. “The three of us, we had something special, a strong musical bond…”
That night Photon played many new songs I haven’t heard yet. Brothers from Another wasn’t a likely match to a rock band, yet it felt so amazing. RG and Nipsy were rapping hard, while Keisha sang emotionally. The night was good. Really good.