A.A. Williams / The Bodega / Nottingham
A nice short hop into Nottingham and to one of my favourite small venues, The Bodega on Pelham Street, bit this is a show I’d drive across country for. I first saw A.A. Williams before the lockdown, when she supported The Sisters of Mercy at Rock City.
Arriving as doors opened ready for tonight’s support Spotlights. Flying over from the states for this tour, Spotlights began in San Diego before relocating to New York, releasing a run of EPs and albums that caught the attention of artists including Deftones and Shiner, eventually leading them to Ipecac Recordings. This would be our first experience of them and I was excited for what was to come. Tonight’s show pays tribute to their 2016 EP “Tidals” which turns 10 this year, with a run through in order, with one newer track added to round off the night.
Spotlights are husband and wife Mario Quintero (guitar & vocals, and Sarah Quintero (bass & vocals) and Chris Enriquez (drums). From the first notes, I knew this was going to be something special. Spotlights weave musical magic between softer ambience and brutal metal packed with waves of sweeping distortion. Mario’s vocals meander from soft and mellow to leaned back screams, with Sarah providing harmony depth.
The set starts with Walls which is heavy and raw. It’s almost visceral in nature, with Mario screaming out the lyrics to pulsing effect driven riffs. It’s like a darker version of the Deftones. Its followed by The Grower which has a more doom metal / shoegaze vibe going on, cathartic, with Sarah’s bass reminiscent of those deep pulsing tones from someone like Pallbearer. The speakers are vibrating with the depth of the bass.
Chris introduces us to Hover on drums before Sarah joins in with a deep fuzzy, dirty basstone, with her soft vocals washing over them, before Mario joins on guitar. It pulses out at us brutally. This ferocity continues with To the End, again with echoes of Pallbearer or Elder in there.
They round off “Tidal” with Jospeh with its more ambient tone which follows into Sunset Burial from their most recent 2023 album “Alchemy for the Dead” which has a delicate nature, but with short sections of fierce guitars in the breakdowns.
And 40 minutes go by in the blink of an eye. Spotlights are intense, and yet accessible. Powerful and yet delicate, I can’t think of a better way to start the night.
I have another new favourite band !
Setlist
Walls
The Grower
Hover
To The End
Joseph
Sunset Burial
A mad rush to remove equipment, re-set the stage, and tune everything ready, and it’s time for A.A. Williams to take to the stage. AA Williams studied classical music and is an accomplished painist and cellist, before stumbling across alt-metal titans Deftones in herteens and becoming hooked on “all things heavy”. This rsulting in picking up a guitar for the first time. She released her debut album “Forever Blue” in 2020. If you’ve not heard it, please go check it out. In my humble opinion it should be in everyone’s top 50 albums of all time – Not a bad track on it, simply stunning.
During the pandemic, she releases “Songs from Isolation” in 2021 a covers album including re-imagined versions of Creep (Radiohead), Everything Is Exactly The Same (NIN) and Into My Arms (Nick Cave). 2022 saw the release of her most recent album “As The Moon Rests”.
Whilst clearly delighted to be back where it all began, A. A. Williams is another not beholden to her past. Since her initial appearance here, she has released three albums and a number of singles, the most recent of which‘Just a Shadow’ arrives two songs into tonight’s electrifying set. Described by Williams as “an ode to darkness inside” it is certainly not all bible black but like much of her material it comes dappled in light and shade.
Accompanied by guitar/keys and drums, A.A. Williams steps out into the dimly light Bodega. The smoke swirls as the first notes of Golden from 2022’s “As The moon Rests” ring out. A slow sombre number, that’s followed by her most recent single Just A Shadow another about torment and dark love.
A.A. Williams gives a masterclass in dark, yet vibrant metal ambience, creating a wall of sound and emotion. It’s a hugely impressive atmospheric soundscape. Precise and technically assured, it surrounds and envelops the listener.
Part way through the set is interrupted by. A couple of audience members loudly arguing at the bar. It grinds my gears that people can act like that during a musical set, knowing their actions / words are interrupting everyone else’s evening, not to mention he artists. Just plain rude. At least security moved in swiftly to escort them both out. Good.
For me, I loved that the set took so much from 2020’s debut “Forever blue” with Glimmer, Dirt, Love and Pain and the stunning Melt all making live appearances tonight. Glimmer has a soft delicate feel to it, almost folk-like, allowing A.A. Williams’ vocals to soar majestically over the music. Melt is one of my favourite songs, another about dark love with lyrics such as “Let go of these promises, they hurt and never ease and I know, know all of the lies you told, I won’t melt, I’m not afraid”. It starts so soft and builds and builds to a crescendo finish, with her vocals becoming stronger and louder. It transforms to the live set beautifully, a moment that impresses the packed venue.
Pristine from 2022’s “As The Moon Rests” is a song of two halves, again delicate before exploding with raw power and energy half way through, into a thunderous anthem. This power is carried over into the title track As the Moon Rests with some beautiful guitar licks. The night rounds off with Evaporate also from “As The Moon Rises” where once again A.A. Williams vocals take centre stage and are allowed to soar high over the melodies.
Just wow ! A.A. Williams never disappoints, there’s a delicate and beautiful nature in her work that runs through the heavier sections, balancing the two perfectly to create a style and a sound that is truly unique.
A.A. Williams and Spotlights – am ambient metal marriage made in heaven.
Setlist
Golden
Just a Shadow
Splinter
Love and Pain
Glimmer
Control
Dirt
Pristine
As the Moon Rests
For Nothing
Melt
Evaporate
