The clear, distinct voice of Cherry Glazerr’s guitarist and singer Clementine Creevy pierced through the hazy purple light of the club.
“White’s not my color this evening,” Creevy sang, the crowd eagerly responding to the eponymously titled song about getting periods.
Along with Creevy as frontperson, Los Angeles based trio Cherry Glazerr is comprised of bassist Devin O’Brien and drummer Tabor Allen. They are currently on a multiple-country tour that will take them to Canada and Europe through the end of April, and they stopped at Santa Cruz to perform at the Catalyst on March 4. Their third album, entitled “Stuffed & Ready,” was released on Feb. 1 under the independent record label Secretly Canadian.
“I think the lyrics on this record are more vulnerable, introspective, self-reflective [compared to their 2017 record “Apocalipstick”],” Creevy said in a Billboard interview. “And a little bit more straightforward about how I’m feeling and why it is the way I’m feeling…I think that makes for a slightly more vulnerable record.”
After releasing their 2014 debut record “Haxel Princess” when Creevy was in her mid-teens, the band underwent multiple lineup changes before and after their sophomore effort, 2017’s “Apocalipstick.”
“Stuffed & Ready” is 32 minutes of musings on concepts such as isolation and solitude. Creevy’s guitar composes the alt-rock framework of each song, with quick emotive solos and riffs.
The Catalyst crowd certainly heard and felt the rawness in Creevy’s music as it echoed throughout the intimate venue. The room pulsated with high energy in every resonant chord, with a mosh pit formed early on in the night.
Cherry Glazerr’s set followed the performance of the band Palehound from Boston, who warmed the audience up with their unique sound characterized by the whispery vocals of singer and guitarist Ellen Kempner. Kempner praised Creevy and Cherry Glazerr as both musicians and people onstage.
“You guys are in for a treat,” Kempner said in between songs.
The crowd bobbed and swayed to Palehound, who received loud applause at the end of their set. By the time Creevy stepped foot on stage, the audience was more than ready to listen.
Crowd members sang along to Cherry Glazerr’s more popular side of the setlist such as the intense chorus of “Had Ten Dollaz” and the catchy riff of “Told You I’d Be With the Guys.”
Along with her honest, confrontational lyrics, Creevy is also known for sharing political views with her fanbase. The track entitled “Juicy Socks” off “Stuffed & Ready” is Creevy’s statement against normalizing the presidency of Donald Trump and speaking uninhibitedly about his ability to serve in office.
“It seems to be like…you have this great platform, you seem to have a message in your music, in and among all the fun,” KEXP host Cheryl Waters said in an on-air interview.
“People aren’t used to [questioning everything] because we live in a world where complacency and comfortability is the end goal,” Creevy said in an interview with She Shreds. “Homogeny is the end goal. And when people are so set and comfortable in their roles—gender roles, class, race, or whatever—they start to lose sight of the corruption and bullshit.”
The crowd was transfixed at the 21 year old throughout the hour-long set. The high-intensity vibe in the room matched the lively performance onstage, as the crowd quickly formed into a room-wide mosh pit. Crowd favorites to mosh to included the raucous noises of “Sip o’ Poison” and aforementioned “White’s Not My Color This Evening.”
At one point later on in Cherry Glazerr’s set, several people successfully embarked on the magical journey of crowd surfing. The friendly, encouraging and energized atmosphere of the mosh pit led Creevy to take a moment to appreciate the crowd.
“We’re so grateful to be in California,” she said. The sentiment seemed to be highly reciprocated by the audience. Creevy smiled widely before plunging into the next song, keeping the crowd enraptured throughout the rest of the night.
