Federale

When spaghetti western outfit Federale grants the audience’s wish, the six-member band looks the part. You can’t say the band’s appearance is authentic, as the genre is entirely artificial: Gunslingers in the Old West weren’t riding into the sunset soundtracked by Ennio Morricone (the composer behind many ’60s Italian Westerns). But Federale owns it. Guitarist Carl Werner is super decked-out, sporting David Byrne’s look from True Stories, complete with the cowboy necktie and a big Texas hat to obscure his face.

With Zhang Yimou’s Hero projected over the band, guitarist Collin Hegna—his shirt open a couple of extra buttons—whistles “The Road to El Ray” through his heavily Chapsticked lips (“Gotta lube up,” he’ll announce later). Songs from the band’s new release, La Rayar, start to run together shortly thereafter, but the crowd’s focus never wanes. Men pound their fists in the air to the two-drummer beat; women scream. Somehow, amid the smoke and spilled drinks, all these disparate cultural elements come together. If 79-year-old Morricone is the genre’s god, it’s pretty clear what that makes Federale. So praise ’em! - Willamette Week