Recently the music world has seen a resurgence of folk and acoustic music. The evidence to prove this is the popularity of bands like Bon Iver and the Fleet Foxes. This phenomenon has not skipped over Baltimore with the such bands as Noble Lake and Wye Oak hailing from our quite little burg. With all this attention being put on low-fi, quite, and singer-songwiteresque music one may start to think that rock is dead, if not only for a little while. Now don’t get me wrong I appreciate the this kind of music and it is truly my favorite genre of music. But I do want to let you all know that rock still lives in Baltimore. This was proven to me with my most Recent trip to the Ottobar last Friday.

The line up that night was Dead Mechanical, the Deleted Scenes, Garry B and the Notions, and the Oranges Band. I showed up late and missed Dead Mechanical so I can’t say or write anything about them. I did however get the Deleted Scenes. They took the stage around ten o’clock and immediately knew what I was in for, for the next 30 minutes. There were moments where I thought I was listening to the lead singer of the Killers sing this set for them. This was not a draw back or an indication of the style of music they played. If you were ever a fan of Q and not U then this band is definitely for you. They play a very jerky style of indie rock that leave you wanted to dance from time to time. There were moments when I was also reminded of Modest Mouse or the Dismemberment Plan. They play loud and with a lot of heart. One look and you knew they were enjoying what they were doing.

The next band up was Garry B and the Notions, headed by front man and lead singer Garry Barrett. I have seen this band many times and have had mixed feelings about them ever since I first saw them. This is largely due in part to the fact that many of the songs are adapted form a day and age when Gary was playing acoustically. There have always been a few songs that I never quite felt translated well when played as rock songs. This all started to change for me when the band added David Andler as their drummer. He brought that one two punch the band need to bring these songs to life, but there was still something missing. That something that was missing has been found in their new guitarist Nick Bertling. He has rock chops that I rarely see in Baltimore. This night was the first time I saw him play with the band. Bertling’s unapologetic and unpretentious approach to playing rock music coupled with Andler’s pounding on the skins has transformed this band into the rock band they are meant to be. Every song resonated with a power that they hadn’t in the past.

The final band of the night was the main event and the reason everyone was there, the Oranges Band. This show was a pre-release for their New Album, The Oranges Band are Invisible. After having seen this band a hand full of times I got the irony of the title of their new album. This is because the line up of guitarist/singer Roman Kuebler, bassist Patrick Martin, and drummer Dave Voyles are anything but invisible when they take the stage. They continue to play their mid-90s verison of indie rock with a veracity unmatched by many other bands in Baltimore, and delivered no less last Friday. By the time they were done playing the crowd was on their feet bouncing to the beat and singing along with every catchy chorus. Every time I see them play I am reminded of a time when most of the music I listened to was nothing but verse, chorus, verse. The Oranges are committed to keep rock alive and that is what they proved with this set.