The Backstreet Boy wouldn’t go on till 8:15 p.m., so crowds went to the NorthBay Health Stage to witness the opener to the opener to the opener, a sister duo who go by the Girl Tones. Straight from the land of Corvettes and bourbon, also known as Kentucky, Kenzie (Crowe) Shultz and her sister Laila Crowe, drove over in their grandparent’s minivan, sharing a hotel bed, just to perform for BottleRock’s massive attendance. And despite the smaller stage, Shultz and Crowe played like they just sold out SoFi.
With nothing but Crowe on drums and Shultz on guitar and vocals, the sound they produced was impressively loud — with Shultz using her boomed mic to captivate the crowd like a ring leader, leading us through bouts of non stop claps and pulsating jumping fits.
The best part about their showcase is how they don’t take themselves too seriously, with Shultz saying “you think we’d wear these outfits if we took ourselves seriously” — with herself in a blue and black dress with yellow leggings and her sister suited up like Winnie the Pooh in a yellow top and red bottom. All their tracks were bursting with commotion, a peaking microphone, and what they described as “heavy music” — my favorite being a song called “Blame” about the benefits of being an older sibling, though I interpreted it about the plights of being the youngest.
Games of dynamics ensued with Shultz having everyone get REALLY LOUD and then really really soft, using clapping verse snapping as the sonic contrast. And before we knew it, we were all jumping to their closing number and the girls left the audience with their final tone; one that duly left us wanting more.
