Music Video Premiere: The Yesters – ‘Freak Show’

Since long before modern civilization emerged, music folks have joined forces in various ways. But today more than ever, collaboration is the name of the game. Meet The Yesters – a good name for a band, sure, but that’s not what this group is. Instead they describe themselves as “a live and virtual collaboration with a variety of musicians and songwriters.”

The constants are founders Alyssa Rallo Bennett and Gary O. Bennett, cinematic-minded creators whose work spans music and film. Alyssa is an award-winning film director. Her debut album Anymore came out in 2021. Gary is a writer, director, producer, and co-founder of independent film studio Stonestreet Studios dedicated to socially conscious storytelling. The duo worked with songwriter/arranger Ed Kuri to create the debut Yesters single and video “Kingston City Morgue,” described by Here Comes the Flood as “a modern day murder ballad that will convince both judge and jury,” in 2023. Their biopic Billy Blue about a forgotten veteran, covering the ’60s to the present, followed in early 2025 (music video here).

Fast-forward to today, and we’re freakishly delighted to premiere the video for “Freak Show,” the new single from The Yesters.

The video finds Alyssa Rallo Bennett in the role of an addict named Irene, fleeing her demons who are anthropomorphized as costumed characters out of a circus nightmare. Irene is, Alyssa told me, “trying to come to terms with and embrace her struggle, along with the perceived judgments and shame that are prevalent” among people battling addiction. Irene needs to “keep movin’ to avoid being dead,” as she sings:

“There’s days I’m like lead / My brain’s overfed / A jukebox of broken bones…I’m young and I’m old / My body can’t make up its mind.”

Sound familiar? We’ve all been there at one time or another, haven’t we, with or without substance abuse?

Addictions “come in many shapes and sizes,” Alyssa explained, “from relationships to whatever quells one’s emotional or physical pain…It was refreshing to sing and play” a character in the thick of it.

“Freak Show” is pretty refreshing too – and possibly addictive. Dig it: