Though a lot more fleshed out on record, Stone Believer pulled off a stunning set as a lowly trio Saturday afternoon at this year's Boulder Fest. The tones were experimentally placed, though classic - especially when the bass and guitar walked the same line. I suspect some drop tuning here as well. And the distortion was real as the signal was hot and thick, and too much for the speakers to woof and tweet out cleanly. It was a rabid and ragged bark through vintage tweed.

Material-wise this band is locked in several periods of transition and weirdness from the early to mid-1970's, namely psychedelic rock and funk. It's part Blue Cheer, part P-Funk, as exhibited in the band's tune "Do You Like To Party," during which Eddie Nebula joined the band on stage to add some vocals from his oh, I don't know, at least four-octave voice.

Eddie Nebula and the Plague followed and finished poking holes in the sky, just barely finishing its set before it began to rain hammers and nails. Part of the Plague's charm is its smart aleck-in-the-back-of-the-classroom take on stage. And if I didn't know Nebula's lovely wife, I'd probably peg him as a miserably married slob who is a just a couple of clicks shy of a shooting spree.

The reason I've always dug this band is its tight sound despite the rag tag assembly; you've got very different musicians here, yet they pull together as one united front, and sounded good as ever even when descending into irony with covers of songs by Judas Priest and Guns ‘n' Roses.