Covet – The Amsterdam – St. Paul, MN – April 17th 2023

Covet – The Amsterdam – St. Paul, MN – April 17^th 2023

Review and photos by Sophiea Owen

The Amsterdam was treated to a cozy night of experimental proggy rock this past Monday evening with altopalo, scarypoolparty, and Covet, who were bringing their Catharsis tour celebrating their new album of the same name.

Altopalo was a wonderful experimental mix of electronic, rock, and indie, creating more soundscapes than songs. They had so many interesting and fun textures throughout their whole set, being unafraid to sit in grooves and sounds. Their dynamic range was massive as well, going from quiet whispering grooves to almost ear-deafening crescendos that would drop off after minutes of buildup. Overall a very good set and I was very impressed.

Scarypoolparty, consisting singularly of Alejandro Aranda, took things down in atmosphere but no less in energy. Armed with only a guitar and his voice, his entire set took place in almost complete darkness, save for one very bright light bulb on a lamp set in front of him. It created an immediate change in atmosphere. He started his set with “The Darkness,” a five-minute piece that sucked everyone in. It was deathly quiet while he played. It’s hard to describe how good he was with just a guitar, but it was intense, driven, and captivating.

Continuing the cozy vibes was finally Covet, with big rugs on the floor and paper lanterns adorning their mics. They played their new album in full to start, throwing in some older songs towards the end. Covet sounds like driving in a car with the windows down on a hot summer day. Mostly instrumental, they continued creating beautiful groovy soundscapes that kept you on your toes with fun time signatures and breaks. I love prog because it is beautiful but not boring, letting you sink into grooves but keeping your brain occupied. Yvette, the lead guitarist, played beautifully and you could really see the joy they had when they played. Their music has an overall positive vibe to it, eclectic, bouncy, and exciting. Listening to them made me happy, and it looked like it made them happy playing it. All three performers were so sweet and genuine, and seemed so joyful just to be making music. Check out their new album Catharsis, it is truly wonderful from start to finish.