Prieta kicked my ass.

The Sacramento band, which includes Stockton natives Mat Woods, Brian Breneman and Ian Maclachlan, rolled into the Blackwater Cafe June 30 and play a brief but vicious set of modern blues-rock. It was tight, loud and rollicking, one part Buddy Guy/Muddy Waters and another part Queens of the Stone Age.

As a result, the band’s sound is both cutting-edge and classic, and it can draw devil horns from middle-age professionals relaxing after a day of work as well as 20-something punks out for a good show.

And both helped pack the Blackwater June 30, a rare feat for a Monday-night performance. Others from the Stockton music scene also came out to show their appreciation for the return of Breneman, Maclachlan and Woods, including members of Pretty Mama and the Not So Hots, Simmerhorn, the Icarus Jones Collective and the Stockton Royale.

The crowd loudly showed their appreciation for frontman Alex Ayers’ powerful, bluesy wail and locomotive harmonica work. Woods, meanwhile, wielded his guitar like a machine-gun armed Joe Perry, while bassist Maclachlan and drummer Breneman kept the band’s beastly beating heart. The band’s power and rhythm were big enough to bowl fans over and had them demanding an encore.

It was the type of performance that has made Prieta a favorite of the Sac music scene, earning it radio play and shows at the city’s best-known venues. You can check out Prieta performing throughout northern California this summer.

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