Show Review: Daffo, Wednesday at Brooklyn Steel, NYC.
November 11th, 2025
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“Can you bark for me” -Sombr
September 10th, 2025
It was Tuesday, but our minds couldn't stop thinking about Wednesday. The alt-country vanguard, the leaders of the pedal-steel guitar renaissance, the band. Last night with the support of Daffo, they headlined a sold-out celebration at Brooklyn Steel’s 1800 cap room. With their new, critically acclaimed album Bleeds in tow, they put on a masterclass of genre bending. Here’s our memory of the crooning, the scorching, the twanging, and the the screaming from the night:
We crawled into the hall during Daffo’s first song and the genre match was so perfect we thought for a second “is this Wednesday?”. Lead Gabi Gamberg sang a slow swinging song with a splintering falsetto melody that cracked satisfyingly like the burnt orange leaves blowing around outside. In between songs they asked “Can anybody bark like a dog? You’re not too cool to do this. Do it again, but better”. This probably seemed odd, but many in the audience seemed to understand the cheeky dig it was at Sombr, the original owner of the awkward banter, who had played on the same stage just a week prior. Our favorite song was the floating, fingerpicked Bad Dog, from Daffo’s latest album Where the Earth Bends.
Wednesday decorated the stage with a dozen dolls, the kind your grandmother favored. We hope they had earplugs, because Karly Hartzman & co came storming out the gates with a fast and explosive start of the set. Reality TV Argument Bleeds, Got Shocked, Fate Is..., and Quary. They finally took a breather with Phish Pepsi but it was just as invigorating because Daffo came back out to join in on vocals. The combination of Americana, alternative, jam, and straight up noise rock shook our senses. Their lap/pedal steel guitar player ripped better than 99% of lead guitarists we’ve seen. At one point, lead singer Karly was visibly stunned at how strongly the audience sang Elderberry Wine back at them. Many people knew the words to every song.
We stood with a friend a few rows back from the front, shifted far enough over on stage left to be in direct firing line of the stage’s left speaker column. We didn’t have earplugs, but we didn’t want them either. We happily let Wednesday murder a few hertz of our hearing in order to feel their music in its unfiltered maximalism. After nearly 20 songs, including most of the new Bleeds album, we left in amazement. They’re playing right now again, the second night of their double header at Brooklyn Steel, and we wish we were there. See you around, Rrrat Pack.
| Keywords: | New York City | Wednesday | Daffo | Brooklyn Steel |
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