THC Turns It Up at Tally Ho Theatre

A trifecta of rock treats Leesburg to a hell of a night

On a humid Sunday evening in a sweet little town in Virginia, I pull up to Tally Ho Theatre. It’s tucked away into a cute little corner of Leesburg. Attached to the venue is a FREE parking garage. Well, free on weekdays and any day after 7 pm, but this is practically unheard of as far as venues go so I’ll take what I can get. 

My father, a 70’s baby and avid THC fan, just celebrated his 53rd birthday days prior so it seemed like we were meant to team up and check out this show. Tally Ho is a new venue for both of us, and we’re both very impressed. The staff immediately is super kind and welcoming, with several team members in the lobby of the venue helping everyone into the building and handing out flyers. 

Merch for all three bands on the ticket is set up here, and there’s a variety of items to choose from. THC had everything from signed cowboy hats to guitar string bracelets, Gravel and Bullet to the Heart had super intricate t-shirt designs that were very grabby to me. Oh yeah, there are two supporting acts for Texas Hippie Coalition this evening. Bullet to the Heart, a four-piece female-led group hailing from Chicago, and Gravel, a four-man band all the way from Colorado Springs. 

I’ll be honest, coming into this I wasn’t familiar with any of these bands. I curated a playlist to get a little taste during the commute to the venue but that’s it. So I get my media wristband and head inside to find my footing before the music starts. Tally Ho is no massive stadium but it’s surely a step up from most local venues. It’s gorgeous and visually appealing and the lighting is pretty great. 

Before I know it, Gravel takes the stage and kicks things off. Their mic stands are thick, red chains gnarled into a curve and damn it looks cool. These guys are dressed to the nines in classic rock and roll garb; distressed jeans, cut-off vests adorned with patches and they’re tatted up too. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed their sound. Authentically classic rock with a bit of a silly twist, they did a cover of the 1967 hit “I Think We’re Alone Now” but not without parodying the lyrics a little.

 “I think we’re alone now, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around. I think we should bone now”

The crowd ate it up and it earned a few giggles from me. Gravel wraps it up and next up is Bullet to the Heart. I was immediately looking forward to hearing what this band was about after seeing a female vocalist. If there’s one thing I love to see in a rock band, it’s a hardcore queen fronting the band. 

The stage lights go dim and purple and the band fills out the stage. They’re all dressed in similar ripped-up black clothing which I gotta admit, looks so badass. Vocalist Audrey has a thick black stripe painted across her eyes which really intensified her look. Bullet to the Heart’s set seems to fly by, I’m running back and forth in the photo pit capturing their high-energy set. I’m totally digging their sound, it’s just the right amount of heavy without being too filthy. They were a great act to follow Gravel. They perform a song that I really dug, called “War”, after stopping to give a shout-out to our veterans. Hell yeah. 

Bullet’s set concludes and now it’s THC time. The stagehands switch things around and add some extra lights to the floor and a crazy mic stand, it’s a rusty double-barrel shotgun. That alone gets me pumped up for Texas Hippie Coalition to come out. The room goes completely dark and the crowd goes from a light chatter to a dull roar, they’re ready. THC hits the stage and wastes no time at all getting down and dirty. They jump right into their first song, “Hands Up” which gets the audience even more hyped than they were before. Bassist Rado and Guitarist Nevada have long locks that they’re whipping around. Nevada had poured water on his head and was wetting the people up front as he swung his dreads around. Between songs, Big Dad Ritch takes the opportunity to give the audience a little break with story times of his raunchy experiences with women and moonshine and sometimes gets deep with us about tales of his childhood, speaking of taking the work boots off of his hardworking father. It’s very touching and random audience members are hootin’ and hollerin’ at Ritch’s punchlines, which there is no shortage of. 

THC’s set is at a constant 110%, not a single band member loses steam. Each dude is head-banging and running from side to side on stage the whole time. Ritch takes another pause to tell the balcony he brought them something special and then flips them the bird. He said “Don’t worry, I brought some for the rest of ya too” and flips another bird and waves them around to the crowd. This is their intro into a banger called “Dirty Finger”, which was honestly perfect and prompted a good bit of laughter from the audience. THC rolls on, rocking the fuck out. Rado removes his black tank top late in the set and wrings it out, it was drenched with sweat. 

“Pissed Off and Mad About It” is the closing song to the set and the crowd is going crazy. Hands and beers are in the air and heads are banging. I’m back by the soundboard at this point to catch a good view of the crowd’s energy during this song, and they were going just as hard, if not harder than the band. THC throws horns into the air and bids the audience farewell, thanking them for their support. We bottleneck out of the single entrance into the lobby, where we’re greeted by several of the band members from each band hanging out by merch and taking selfies with fans. It was literally no more than 3 minutes after the show ended so this was really cool to witness. All the bands on the ticket know how important their fans are to their success and they’re happy to be out by the merch tables even after their grueling sets.

The music was the delicious cake and the perfectly sweet frosting, but seeing that was the cherry on top of this kick-ass night. I’ll be sure to catch Gravel, Bullet to the Heart, or Texas Hippie Coalition anytime they’re nearby. These folks know how to put it on and their hospitality was a heartwarming touch. 

See the Full Gallery of the Night!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.