I feel fortunate to have retained any memory at all of seeing Negative Scanner guitarist and singer Rebecca Valeriano-Flores fronting her first band, Tyler Jon Tyler, at the Empty Bottle ten years ago. I’m foggy on the details—I doubt I could even tell you who else was on the bill that evening—but I absolutely remember coming to the conclusion Valeriano-Flores was a force to be reckoned with. Her bellowing voice wasn’t just a hair-raising surprise coming out of someone so small, it also flat-out commanded your attention. I was sure that wouldn’t be the last time I’d see her own a stage, whether in a club or a basement.
Nose Picker by Negative Scanner
Friday night’s “in the round” record-release show at Thalia Hall is in character for the band: they’ll play on the floor, surrounded by an all-ages crowd, in what’s probably the best compromise possible between trashing a musty basement and headlining an ornate concert hall.
