Space Ghost Cowboys at Whitson's Grand Ballroom

It's been a very long time since Space Ghost Cowboys last played a show, but it'll be even longer until they play their next one. About three weeks ago, lead singer and guitarist Aaron Maine played his last SUNY PURCHASE!!! show this semester before hightailin' it on down to somewhere mysterious in the deep Southwest. Nick and I have been putting off this post for weeks because we both feel a need to do justice to this great band; to memorialize them as they so rightly deserve. SGC is a three-piece for the most part, with Ian Reilly on bass guitar, Jack Edward on drums, and, of course, the aforementioned Aaron Maines doing it all whoop whoop oh ya oh ya all right boo ya.

But, yes. As a freshman coming to SUNY Purchase this year I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the Stood and the Co-Op and all these things. I saw Aaron at a couple of open mics and thought it was cool that everyone knew the words to everything and everyone sang along. It wasn't until halfway through last semester until I finally saw him with his band. Though Aaron can do it all whoop whoop etc. I will always prefer his material with the band as opposed to his solo stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic and well-written and everything (it's the sort of stuff Nick creams himself over) but it's not anywhere near as dynamic as SGC's material. While the band is very tight, they do have enuff rock 'n roll sensibility to let it all hang out sometimes, and really indulge themselves, and the audience, in those sort of moments that have incredible emotional weight to them.

One show stands out particularly in my mind. I'm not sure exactly when, but it was probably in December, and I saw them close a bill in Whitson's Memorial Hall at the Stood. It was stuffy in Whitsons and I remember seeing Aaron cooling down by pouring vodka on his head and then taking a big swig from the plastic handle. He tossed it to drummer, they turned on a strobe light and it got INSANE. The show ended in a swamp of feedback, with the drum set trashed, the lead singer stumbling around the floor, eventually collapsing in a metal trash can that had previously been used for percussion, and the bassist obediently plugging along, giving the only sort of context he could to the debaucherous situation. It was utterly fantastic.

But at SGC's last show, the ambience was equally chaotic, if not a little more unified. A lot of people turned out for the show, and most everyone sang along to all the words, or at least pretended to try. By the time they played "Wolf" to close, the crowd was in a tizzy and I had soiled myself and cried my eyes out, but not neccesarily in that order.
It's not the same without 'em. I'll tell ya.

Space Ghost Cowboys:
Toothy


More solo-y stufff:
Scoundrel


School Project

We actually have some nice photos from this one, check them out HERE.

 Shark's Roar, Cameron Wisch, and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt also played that night.  We'll be covering the rest of the show soon but you can check out more photos from that night HERE.