20 Watt Tombstone to perform Friday at the Atlantic

Gainesville will host 20 Watt Tombstone on its 24-date Fall 2017 tour.

The Atlantic on North Main Street will host the Wisconsin duo Friday at 9 p.m. along with openers Made Ready, Rojo Diablo and Rockhill.

The Nov. 3 stop will be preceded by a stop at The Clermont in Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov. 2 and followed in Melbourne, Florida, at Just One More on Nov. 4.

The band 20 Watt Tombstone doesn’t take itself too seriously. On its website, the bio reads: “If the White Stripes, The Black Keys and Left Lane Cruiser had an illegitimate love child with Lemmy while Hunter S. Thompson documented the whole torrid thing, you might get 20 Watt Tombstone.”

In 2011, drummer Mitch Du’Quan Ostrowski and guitarist Tom Jordan came together to form an alternative blues rock band mixed with metal, country and punk blends. Today, they embark on their sixth tour, hitting 23 cities in just one month.

One of 20 Watt Tombstone’s opening acts, Rojo Diablo, shares a place of origin with the band. Twenty years ago in northern Wisconsin, original members of both bands became good friends.

Today, guitarist and vocalist Kris Robinson, bassist Chuck Crews and drummer Olly Edwards have joined remaining guitarist and vocalist Rich Ouimette, the remaining original member of the band.

A decade after Rojo Diablo moved to Gainesville from Wisconsin, the band is reuniting with 20 Watt Tombstone after having spent two years apart since performing the Gainesville stop of 20 Watt Tombstone’s last tour.

“We built a big family (in Wisconsin) with the guys from 20 Watt Tombstone before they were a band, but we just kind of got tired of the weather and wanted something different, so we moved down here almost a decade ago,” Ouimette said. “Over the years, the original members had to go back to their families, but I grew up down here, so all the guys who I grew up with, 30 years later, they joined the band, and now here we are.”

Rojo Diablo playing this show comes as a rarity these days, as the band was recently signed to the label MoonWax and is now working on its second album. The owner of MoonWax, John Deckle, plays bass for Society Down.

“We released our first album 12 years ago, toured it and had a blast. After that, we had some lineup changes and spent a year recording this huge opus, but our other lead singer moved up to Wisconsin, so we didn’t feel right releasing it.”

Finally, however, Deckle’s studio in Jacksonville has helped Rojo Diablo produce a sound that Ouimette says sounds like them, unlike their first LP, which was recorded in a friend’s basement.

“The first album did well, but there was one song, ‘American Gomorra,’ that we wanted done right,” Ouimette said. “That song, 12 years later, is going to be on our second album, which is set to be released in early spring.”

Rojo Diablo will be performing songs from its upcoming album at Friday’s show.

Also opening for 20 Watt Tombstone is Made Ready, a hard rock band formed in 2012 by lead vocalist and guitarist Justin Grey, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Chase Crawford, bassist Jacob Sparks and drummer BJ Rambo.

The band, based out of south Georgia, calls Gainesville its hometown.

“We’ve played here a ton and have a bunch of friends down here that have all accepted us as one of their own. 20 Watt are some personal friends of ours that we hooked up with through a show,” Crawford said. “We’re not actually on this whole tour this time around, just a couple of support dates for now. But Mitch and Tom are great guys and we love playing with them any chance we get.”

Made Ready is currently working on raising funds to record a full length LP. Most of the songs are already written, and some will be featured in Friday’s set.

The band will return to the Atlantic in December for a Thin Lizzy tribute show, which Crawford says has been his dream since he was 14 years old.

Friday’s show will run from 9 p.m. to midnight with tickets available at the door of the Atlantic.