“Can I get a hot shit?!” Gnarly Davidson’s exuberant bassist Sam Gunnerson starts nearly every set by screaming this into the mic. The audience always happily replies “Hot shit!”

Here’s how one of the most brutal bands in Lawrence lights up the room. For starters, they make sure they’re on the same level as their fans. They ditch the stage to set up on the floor and become one with the people. “We don’t like stages because they make us feel uncomfortable,” they told the Bottleneck audience on Friday night.
 
 
 
The self-proclaimed “beer rock” band is instant gratification for any music fan. The throbbing bass is so intense and pleasurable, you can actually feel it rumble through your body and turn your knees to jelly. Gunnerson and the band’s other guitarist, Mitch Jones, take turns screaming into the mic. The band normally trudges through one sludgy grunge number after another. But Gnarly Davidson is so polished now, drummer Franklin Fantini begins their sets by rapidly pounding away at the kit. Forget the earplugs, this is a band you’ll want to take right in the face.
 
 
They divide their time between growling and grumbling through songs and telling dirty jokes. A Gnarly Davidson set has become a perfect outlet for all that pent up frustration you built during the week.

They like to jokingly announce “Hi, we’re Gnarly Davidson and this is our last song,” at the beginning of their sets because the entire performance feels like one long song (which is why you’re only getting a snippet of it below).

They then proceed to take you through a labyrinth of riffs and rock, but they always come full circle with a grand finish to a song they started earlier in the set.

God bless you, Gnarly Davidson. You truly are hot shit.

Words and photos by Fally Afani