Sheer Mag: Tiny Desk Concert

Lars Gotrich | November 1, 2024
At the Tiny Desk, we love to entertain unexpected requests from artists: American Football brought in a children’s choir; Tyler, the Creator’s team lit our “stage” for a nighttime performance. These can certainly make a performance stand out, but also extend the range of an artist’s creativity. So when Sheer Mag asked if we knew a bagpipe player in the D.C. area, we found Tim Carey, who also just so happened to have played the first-ever WrestleMania in 1985. If this bagpiper’s good enough for Roddy Piper, then he’s good enough for Sheer Mag.

Forged in punk and steeped in ‘70s hard rock, power-pop and disco, Sheer Mag has been a force for good in rock and roll for the past decade. The band doesn’t recreate or revive, but truly lives inside the blood, sweat and tears of this music — it’s fun and unpredictable, yet harmonious and homey. That’s why this Tiny Desk feels like a well-earned victory lap, featuring songs across the Philly band’s catalog, from its early 7-inch singles to its latest album, Playing Favorites. The riffs are timeless, the boogie is raucous, the guitar solos are sweaty and Tina Halladay’s voice is a soulful sneer that will set your heart aflame.

SET LIST
"Steel Sharpens Steel"
"Need to Feel Your Love"
"Nobody's Baby"
"Don't Come Lookin' "
"Fan the Flames"

MUSICIANS
Tina Halladay: vocals
Kyle Seely: guitar, vocals
Matt Palmer: guitar, vocals
Hart Seely: bass, vocals
Evan Campbell: drums
Tim Carey: bagpipes

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Lars Gotrich
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#nprmusic #tinydesk #sheermag