Free at Noon Flashback: Ron Gallo brings his raw power and character to the World Cafe Live stage

Man, this Ron Gallo guy, he’s something special. His eloquent lyricism, blues-like guitar riffs, and overall raw attitude defines him as his own, and it all came into full effect as he took the World Cafe Live stage for a round of pure rock and roll.

Gallo’s return trip to XPN found him performing material from his soon-to-be-released record Heavy Meta, along with some of his past discography. Matching the manic nature of all those damn stage lights, Gallo and friends flowed through fifty minutes of some fantastic garage rock, as songs like “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me” and “Kill the Medicine Man” felt like a White Stripes and Costello Music baby.

Ron Gallo | photo by Tiana Timmerberg for WXPN

Halfway through the set, Gallo had some encouraging words for the country, as he stood firmly with us humans and our amazing ability to work things out in the end, before aptly busting into his new song “We’re Going to be Alright.” He continued to add a bit of flair to his performance, knocking around the stage with his reverbed filled solos, even stopping to perform a bit of spoken word while his guitar laid motionless. In a bold finale, the band taps into their heavier side, covering Danzig’s “Am I Demon?” as a fire of a finale.

Overall, Ron Gallo’s tunes are fun and fast, rough and real, and even a bit weird. But, his style is the perfect progression of garage rock, as I’m sure this new record of his will skyrocket him to new heights.

Listen to Gallo’s Free at Noon performance below, and check out photos from his set; to revisit his very different Free at Noon from 2015, click here.