Crobot live at The Back Bar in Janesville, Wisconsin 2021

Wisconsin... Land of beer, cheese, sausage and The Back Bar in Janesville. Time to rock with Crobot, Squidhammer, Strange Daze and Let Fate Decide...
Crobot Janesville, Wisconsin 2021 gig poster
The night begins with Let Fate Decide, who hails from just down the highway in Rockford, IL. They’re a younger band, but put out a really solid set with a mix of covers and originals. The band is well rehearsed and meshed together really with a style that leaned more towards the alternative metal side. The singer's vocals were really crisp and clean.
 
Next up we have Strange Daze coming down all the way from Minnesota. This four-piece of seasoned musicians had a huge sound that as soon as they started playing you felt like you went back in time to the glory days of grunge and alternative metal. That isn’t a slight against these guys at all. They sounded phenomenal, and belong on a lineup with bands like Crobot. You could also send them out with bands like Soundgarden or Pearl Jam, and they would fit right in. No doubt that any fan of that era of music would love these guys.
 
Squidhammer; if that name already has you saying “huh? What’s a squid hammer? Then you are in the exact same boat that I was in. These guys know how to put on a show. I’m fairly certain the singer used to be a carnie, because of 2 stunts I have only seen in such places. Juggling knives, and spitting fire. Not only the stunts, but the energy they put out was intense, it started out with the singer wearing about half of a tuxedo, complete with top hat and black sunglasses. Think of The Blues Brothers style, but classier because of the top hat. It was a fast paced and raucous set from these guys. The crowd was really into them, especially when they ended their set with a cover of Pantera’s “Fucking Hostile” to get everyone riled up for what came next.
 
Up next we have… a gigantic, space egg that looks like a large, extra veiny testicle and a large dragon head on stage right. Evoking immediate comparisons to the immortal Spinal Tap, it is a sign of things to come, and how great this show is going to be.
 
In the darkness, a spotlight begins to thrash around inside creating orange streaks through to the exterior of the egg before jolting straight up through the smoke, in a pillar of bright, white light. This begins “The Legend of the Spaceborne Killer” and singer Brandon Yeagley is born from the shell to dole out some dirty rock and roll music for the rest of the evening.
 
Crobot absolutely lit the place up with unbridled, old school rock and roll energy. Speaking of lit up. Remember the dragon head I mentioned earlier? At one point in the show Brandon had a conversation with that dragon head, and told him that if Game of Thrones has taught humanity anything, it’s that dragons and humans can coexist. He then grabs a comically large spliff from behind Bishop’s amp stack and jams it into the dragon’s mouth and the rock rolls on.
 
More props came into use through the night when they played one of their most recent singles “The Mountain”, where a sword was removed from a pile of stone (Which as of the recorded version, had one of my favorite bassists, Frank Bello). Crobot closed out the show with “Everyone Dies” and sent us all home happy.
 
Crobot setlist:
Legend of the Spaceborne Killer
Kiss It Goodbye
Drown
Burn
Gasoline
Mountain
Rat Child
La Mano On the Streets
Interlude (Dragon w/ Blunt)
Nowhere to Hide
Low Life
Everyone Dies