Openers can be a bit of a mixed bag: it’s easy to find someone decent, but finding a band that’s distinctive enough to set themselves apart from the main players and impressive enough to stay stuck in your brain once the night’s over? That’s a rare rock show unicorn worth mentioning. I first saw Gringo Star opening for Blind Pilot almost five years ago, and they put on a live show so good I still haven’t forgotten it. Since most members of Gringo Star are both songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, all the usual boxes we love to put musicians in went out the door during their act : band-members moved fluidly from guitar to bass to drums to vocals, and songs varied in everything from tone, tempo, genre—pretty much everything but quality. They’re headlining this week at Glasslands, and the intimate, super unique venue is only going to make this ridiculously good live band even more ridiculously good. Plus, with opener Radical Dads (best new band name ever, right?) there’s the chance that Opening Act Awesomeness could strike twice.–V.R.
