Slightly Stoopid catches a Sold Out Set in Lincoln CA!
Pictures and Words: Jim Brown
predominant Southern California beach punk reggae jam band Slightly Stoopid made a stop in Lincoln, California, to put on a sold out show at The Venue at Thunder Valley and it was effing rad dude.
Slightly Stoopid has been on Music Fan Magazines office turntable since their 2015 album release “Meanwhile...Back At The Lab” and although we missed the early days back in Ocean Beach, Slightly Stoopid’s sound invites everyone into their backyard regardless of the count on your sleeve stripes as a registered “Stoopidhead,” the term coined for the loyal following Slightly Stoopid has created over the last 30 years.
Seeing them perform at the all-new Venue at Thunder Valley was a treat for sure as the concert hall just completed a two-year, $100 million construction project that produced sound and stage qualities that couldn't be ignored. Even Slightly Stoopid frontman Miles Doughty commented during the set “I think this is our new favorite indoor venue,” as a 4,500-person capacity crowd applauded in agreement.
Admittedly, we expected more of a reggae jam vibe to dominate the evening but were immediately treated to the third song out of the gate with a glorious rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Franklins Tower.” I was looking at the stage left to see if by chance Bob Weir was in the house, the last of three remaining “OGs” of the Grateful Dead and a recent collaborator with Slightly Stoopid during some sessions at Weir’s TRI Studios in Marin County years ago. The back graphics were spot on with a whisper of the Steal Your Face logo cutting back and forth to close up shots of Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald trading guitar licks.
Slightly Stoopid carried on with various cuts from a selection of their past nine studio albums. Each song was performed with an accuracy not typically duplicated live. And while the transition from the beach boom box to a live stage usually gives a free pass to the performers’ ability to hit notes, chords and octaves created in a studio setting...the show on this night was performed exactly as the sound that comes from the car stereo system. Great job for a bunch of guys that don’t outwardly seem to pay much attention to the technical presentation of their work.
Rather, it felt like Slightly Stoopid would rather stand and deliver with the crowd and burn one down than to dial in the fluttering edges of some stupid splash cymbal or vocal attenuation, this was an exercise in grooving, a demonstration of a virtual crowd surf (Slightly Stoopid has actually succeeded in performing many crowd surfs over the years, utilizing a real surfboard to do it (check YouTube, big waves can be found in lots of places I suppose)
Kyle and Miles traded shifts at the mic and even exchanged one's bass for the other ‘s six-string at one point, all while maintaining a groovy lo-fi beat that kept the sold-out crowd engaged fully. In fact, about six or seven songs into the night, Music Fan Magazine trekked to the tippy top row of the third and highest balcony only to find a jammin happy couple dancing the set away as if they were in the front row. Usually, the sound and entire vibe die down as you get row after row away from the main stage, but not with Slightly Stoopid...their music has an ability to penetrate all the way to the top inky shadows of the forgotten corners of the music hall.
You really had to be there to feel the music they were throwing down. It's hard to put into words other than to say you will have to see them when they stop by your town this 2024 tour session to see for yourself. Check out other places on the internet to learn more about Slightly Stoopid’s origin story...Music Fan Magazine doesn’t care to write about that here...but then again, leaving the show we really didn’t care about a lot of things except calling our old buddies and working out a beach bonfire plan complete with a Coors Light party ball and multiple 4 packs of orange flavored California Coolers for the ladies...and some sweet sweet smoke because the best way to enjoy the Slightly sound, to really get involved with their vibe, is the be a little $toopid. (homage to 96’)
Thanks for stopping by NorCal, see you all next time.
Music Fan Meters:
Smoke Meter – None ...really a shame too because this crowd would have beat the Billy Strings record set last year. The Venue prohibited open flame so there you go.
Fight Meter – Nope...not even at the beer line...which was long due to the lack of smoke...anyone throwing hands would have been shunned and that was probably deterrent enough.
Sing Along Meter – Lets change this to dance meter because between big bass hits and the bright guitar work the crows was absolutely loving it....if your weren't moving side to side...you were probably the PoPo.