Music is Golden... (370 hits)
Category: Sound & MusicRating: 2 on 4 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by McGee <gravernmisery.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2004-09-10 05:28:50 EDT
I must say that tonight I saw what might've been one of the best shows I've seen. That statement says alot considering I am a concert junkie and go to every show I can.
Now, most of you will have no clue about who these artists are, and alot of that number won't care. But if you like experimental rock/metal (i.e. Mr. Bungle, Faith No More), then you might want to give the last 3 artists a listen at some point.
To start the night out, a band called Omelas stepped up to the mike. Now normally, the first band of the night is the least known and of the lowest quality. Although, comparatively, this band was, Omelas was still quite good. They had a somewhat Dashboard Confessional meets Papa Roach sound. Every last one of them looked like something straight out of an emo music video, shag haircuts and all. Their music was quite descent and I was fairly impressed.
The second band of the night was Collateral Insight. They looked like your typical underground metal band (normal, everyday jeans and t-shirts), except for the lead singer. Collateral's front man looked like Eminem, spoke like Phil Anselmo, and sang like the illigetimate offspring of Slipknot's Corey Taylor (pre-solo project) and Disturbed's David Draiman. Their music was slightly reminescent of Slipknot, also, but more from their first LP Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. and not so much (sic) or Iowa. They had 2 percussionists, one on a standard set and one with high toms and hand drums. The combination of these 2 sounds added a slightly tribal feel. The guitar and bass was mostly Slipknot-esque with standard bass riffs and fast paced guitar licks. The singers vocals were a combination of spoken rap, growls, and screams. All in all, I enjoyed their music. The only problem with this band, and of no fault of the member's, was the guitarist's guitar decided to become tempermental and started shorting out and at random intervals. I did feel quite bad for him, I'm sure this technical glitch was infuriating and embarassing to him.
The third band to perform was honestly one of my favorites. Bad Acid Trip was absolutely awesome. For anyone who is a System of a Down fan, you'll appreciate this. Imagine SoaD's music on lots of speed and steroids and injected with a huge syringe full of evil and you have Bad Acid Trip. The fast paced drum beats and the large amount of talent in the guitarist and bassist, not to mention the wacky stage antics and huge vocal range of the singer, made for a show not soon forgotten. The singer's style ranged from death metal growls to black metal screams all the way back to the high, squeaking Alvin and the Chipmunks voice that made SoaD so popular a few years back. Combine that with strange dances such as the Cabbage Patch, the Jitterbug, and even the Running Man and little girl innocent looks just drove the small (although enthusiastic) crowd nuts. The guitarist and bassist were just as off-the-wall with goofy, cartoonish smiles and skank-style footwork. The one antic that took the cake tonight was the singer pulling a vibrator out of his pocket and playing air-guitar with it. Follow this with a floppy double-sided dildo on his head while jumping around and its almost impossible not to love BAT. As a side note, I did get to spend some time with the band post-show and found that they are extremely easy to get along with, not to mention quite open to suggestions.
The fourth band of the night, and also the entire reason I went to begin with, was Tub Ring. If you like experimental rock, or more specifically if you like the band Mr. Bungle, then you will die for Tub Ring. Their music ranged from lighter metal to punk/ska to strange rock with even some hints of classical. The vocals were fairly straight with mostly clean singing and growls. The flexibility of the guitarist and bassist was obviously with style switches from metal to 50's style surf rock and back within one song. The drummer was having a time playing everything from death metal double bass to off-beat swing riffs. But by far the most animated member of the band was the keyboardist. Playing everything from Mozart-esque classical solos to simple sound byte samples, this man ran circles around his equipment, literally. His favorite dance move (if you can actually call it that, more a stage antic) was jumping up on his keyboard stand and riding it like a surf board. At one point the keyboardist even pulled out a breath powered child's keyboard/toy and played it into the mike, adding an odd, although very interesting and pleasent, touch to that particular song. Yet again, I also got to speak with the members of Tub Ring for a time after the show and found them to be very intelligent and quite interesting. Probably the 2 most interesting facts I found out were 1) the keyboardist is completely self taught and 2) the lead singer was a physics major in college.
Alas, we come to the end of the night with Dog Fashion Disco. Unfortunately, I don't have too much to say about this band because I missed a large part of the show while talking to the members of BAT and Tub Ring. What parts of the show I did see were amusing and entertaining. DFD seems to be some odd combination of pop punk, rock, and metal (are we noticing a theme for the evening yet?). The performers weren't quite as animated as those in BAT and Tub Ring, but provided a good stage show none-the-less. One of the songs I did catch is apparently one of their more popular ones. The opening and some parts in the middle were simultaniously evil and comedic in the they sounded like carnival music on acid. The rest of the song had the hard pounding rhythms and fast paced beats that most good metal songs have. The combination, though odd, was very pleasant to the ear (if you like this style of music). DFD's closing number was slightly surprising to me, as they covered Metallica's "Creeping Death". The cover was quite well done and a fitting end to a wonderful night.
All in all, it was all the band seemed to give it their all and made for a wonderful night. I'd say this was definitely more than I expected and I feel I got much more than I paid for ($12 for my ticket). If anyone is interested, please check out these bands. I'm sure they'd appreciate the support and, if you enjoy experimental music, would give you hours of entertainment. If you ever get the chance to see any of these bands live, jump at the chance. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Good night.
-McGee
(As a small side note, I do apologize if my writing is a little off, but after four hours of lovely, raucous music, my brain is a little frazzled.)
User Reviews
Submitted by gravernmisery (user info) at 2004-09-10 12:03:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Dammit... I didn't mean to +2 myself... I guess I'm still braindead from the concert...
Submitted by gravernmisery (user info) at 2004-09-10 12:02:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Actually, no. I haven't heard of Estradasphere. I guess that's one more band I'll have to go check out. Thanks for the info!
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2004-09-10 09:13:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for even mentioning Mr. Bungle (they're genius), and SOAD. I'll have to check out Tub Ring for sure.
Submitted by drky (user info) at 2004-09-10 05:33:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You bastard i can't believe you saw Tub Ring they're wicked... Just been getting into them over the last few weeks.
I take it you've heard of estradasphere and the like?