Owl, Glowing Brain, Gravedodger
- Hectic
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Merchants Saloon
Oakland, CA
August 15, 2026
Saturday night with 3 great local bands, an eclectic mix of heavy music styles with some unique twists, in true Bay Area fashion. Better yet the show was at one of Oakland’s oldest of old school dive bars, Merchants Saloon.
I started the day slinging records in the East Bay for the second time in a few weeks, first at Amoeba Records Berkeley to see what had sold and put the new Frolic and Deth Provider on consignment.
I hate consignment, but for local stores it is way better than being told no (some stores survive by only selling used records they can buy cheaply) or the dreaded “you can donate your records to us,” so I appreciate it. Kurt, the Amoeba Berkely metal buyer, is a cool dude.
After that I went to check out the Market of the Beast (great name), a traveling arts and crafts fair of sorts. I was hoping there would be some music vendors there but no luck. Mostly jewelry, edgy goth art, insect taxidermy, and Oakland political stuff. Not my scene but I’m always ready to support the arts. I bought a couple interesting cookies and a cool pendant necklace for the wife.
Then it was off for a quick walk around Oakland's Jack London Square. I had a whiskey at Heinold's First & Last Chance Saloon, a cool bar that's been open since 1884, where you go both back in time and down a strangely sloping floor when you walk in.
Finally I stopped by Hesher's Pizza, for a Ghost Town IPA and an amazing slice of pizza. If you are a metalhead in the Bay Area and you like pizza (and who doesn’t like pizza?), you need to eat at Hesher’s. Great metal music and decor, a big selection of cider and beer taps, and most importantly excellent pizza. And I’m originally a Boston asshole who thinks California is lacking in great pizza.
Then on to Merchants! I hadn’t seen a show at Merchants in at least 5 years. Last time was Party Force after a Raiders game (Raaaaaiiiiiiiddddddeeeeers! And fuck Las Vegas). After a full day of tailgating and football that punk rock show is little more than a hazy happy memory.
Ok, let’s talk about this evenings great bands (finally):
(Apologies for the shitty photos, I had a great seat across the bar, but not for taking photos).
Gravedodger opened the show. I’ve seen them a couple of times previously at the Bottom of the Hill, hard to describe but kind of fast melodic punk, with some classic rock and stoner rock influences. “Just as much Minutemen as they are Judas Priest.... “ according to Gravedodger’s bandcamp, and I think that sums it up better than I could.
Anyway, you should go see Gravedodger, they don’t disappoint. In fact, pretty much any band I have seen Shane Bergman (guitar) in has a unique sound and is worth seeing (Hazzard’s Cure, Walken are two favorites).
Glowing Brain was up second, an intense 3 piece band. I’m a lover of power trio bands, plus I’ve seen Glowing Brain 3 times starting last year, and I’m a fan.
As a bonus, the guitarist and a vocalist in Glowing Brain Doc Miller is also the metal buyer at Amoeba Records San Francisco and an all around cool dude. Amoeba SF has a seriously huge metal section, and Doc’s picks and discounts in one of the first bins alone are worth the trip. My second favorite thing about Amoeba SF’s metal section is that it is only serious / extreme metal – thrash, death metal, black metal, etc. You’ll find AC/DC, Accept, etc. under rock.
Anyway, Glowing Brain live is quite the ride – sped up Motorhead, fuzzed out punk, fast noise rock all coming at you. But it is all pretty great. Check out Glowing Brain’s bandcamp too.
Our headliner was Owl, celebrating the start of their UK tour, as well as their new album On the Rocks. Owl consists of 3 actual brothers (unlike the Doobie Brothers) and a Bass player named Magic (always a good sign, see Magic Dick of J. Geils). They are a little bit metal, a lot 70s hard rock vibes, dueling guitar heavy with echoes of Iron Maiden or the Scorpions.
Owl was a good time and a fitting cap for the evening. I picked up their new record at the show, and am listening to it right now as I type this. Rock on!
—Hectic
