There is a small window of time when, among those special bands that are destined to capture the zeitgeist of a genre and advance to large venues and chart toping records, fans can simply walk into a small studio and experience their music with out the pageantry and, yes, the long lines and Ticketmaster mayhem of bigger shows. For White Reaper, that time is now. With older tongue-in-cheek album titles like The World’s Best American Band and White Reaper Does it Again, maybe the group knew something then that it took the rest of us a few years to come to terms with: White Reaper is here to stay.
With their newest 10-track offering, Asking for a Ride, released just last month, the band has cemented an already impressive catalog of 4 albums and 2 EPs, achieving notable fame within the alternative community in just 8 years of recording and touring. There is a sound you come to recognize when you have your ear to the thumping, beer soaked ground of the music industry: the sound of history being made. And, as dramatic as it sounds, when I listen to Bozo and Pages, both of which sound as good live in a dingy bar in East Texas as they do on the recording, I hear it. Their influences, too, are discernible in the newest recordings, reminding me of early 90’s Metallica, In Utero era Nirvana, and even some more late 70’s Thin Lizzy songs (especially noticeable in some of their duel guitar solos.) It feels appropriate that a band with such a keen sense of 90’s musical convention and culture would catch the eye of a new generation, as they revive some of the decades’ trends.
On Monday, February 13, 2023, the Louisville group took to the small stage at Warehouse Live and played to a dynamic crowd of all ages. But not before the native Texan band Narrow Head hyped the crowd up, which it seemed included plenty of their own fans, with lots of crowd surfing and mosh action.
White Reaper stepped on stage close to 10:00pm, but fans were unfazed by their late Monday night in the studio. The band, lead by singer and guitarist Tony Esposito, tore through their repertoire, playing mainly songs from Asking for a Ride. Ryan Hater, who played the keys, had the most energy of the group, taking any chance he could to interact with the lively front row. The rest of the band, including Hunter Thompson, Nick Wilkerson, and Sam Wilkerson, matched the room’s energy but with great skill—especially when it came to the multiple guitar and bass solos—lending to the band’s overall tight sound.
The band’s tour will continue in California and throughout the midwest starting in San Fransisco on Wednesday, and I recommend you see them now so that one day you can say, “I saw them when.”
Random fact: The group’s namesake was an actual white Grimm Reaper halloween decoration that the band members saw in a Halloween Express when they were just 17 years old. The cover art of Asking for a Ride depicts several halloween themed characters including a witch, a creepy clown on a unicycle, and an alien.
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