Local skronk-rockers Witchbender are switching things up and going full Bill Evans or Thelonious Monk, and turning the Milk District’s cozy Nook into their own Village Vanguard. Now, have no fear, the band will still be dredging the darkest parts of their psyche for atonal, scratchy audio self-flagellation redolent of Pissed Jeans, Scratch Acid and Shellac; it’s just that they’re staging a conceptually gutsy evening that calls back to classic jazz happenings rather than punk or metal. “An Evening With Witchbender” will have no openers, and sees the band playing two full sets. That’s it. Lean and streamlined and yet, considering the exhausting nature of their performances on the players involved, pretty goddamn ambitious. There will be a live recording of a podcast too? All. Bases. Covered.
