Offbeat Geek

My ears are still ringing from last night’s ‘rockin’ concert at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, Arizona. Overall a fantastic show with great performances from most of the bands. Below, in order of appearance on stage, are my thoughts on each of last night’s acts.

The Asylum

First on stage were the local, full on, metal five piece known as: The Asylum (Myspace).  These guys were most definitely the hardest band present.   On paper they looked like a very odd choice for an opening act especially taking into account the other openers.  They did not let that interfere with getting the crowd motivated.  A giant mosh pit opened up center stage within minutes of their arrival.

The only thing that seemed to hurt them was the loss of a lot of the intricate guitar work present in the recordings.  I couldn’t tell if the audio settings were quite set up right or just lost in the overall barrage of metal slamming into my chest at the time.  Closing with a re-imagining of “Eye Of The Tiger”,  which you can hear on their myspace profile, was just wicked.  The perfect song to finish up on.

After their show I got talking to Jason (vocals) and Bill (Bass).  Both were down to earth and friendly guys.  I’ve got high hopes for them.  A solid metal act, check them out!

New Medicine

Next up were the ridiculously energetic New Medicine (Myspace). These guys, hailing from Minneapolis, were one heck of a treat! From the first note to the last, New Medicine were non stop energy.  With only one single on itunes and an album due sometime in 2010, it was understandable that I’d never heard of these guys before. Still though, WHO IS PROMOTING THESE GUYS? DO A MUCH BETTER JOB ALREADY! I heard Cavo on radio long before their album was released. Why not these guys?

They’ve a very interesting style. As an example: In “Race You To The Bottom”, Rage Against the Machine has clearly influenced these guys and if I am not mistaken there’s a slight hint Kid Rock in there too. Sounds like an odd combination but works pretty damn well!

With The Asylum’s good start, New Medicine took the crowd to the next level. There wasn’t a bored on uninterested soul in the venue at this point!

To the Band: Great performance guys, was a pleasure talking to you all!  Shame on you Dan for “violating” my poster

After Midnight Project

Following those two where the somewhat underwhelming After Midnight Project (Myspace).  The audience were primed, had Chevelle walked on stage instead, they would have lost their minds. Instead we got After Midnight Project.  When the Singer came out on stage I couldn’t help but cringe.  A six foot something man who hadn’t grown out of his teen “emo” (or whatever they’re calling themselves these days) thing.  Dude you look 20 years too old for that style.  Let it go.

Their recorded music isn’t half bad but they didn’t seem to carry it off on stage.  It was not their lack of passion.  They were definitely motivated to give the audience a great performance but we just weren’t feeling it.  To his credit, the Singer did keep trying to get the crowd engaged throughout the show.  If they had played before New medicine, they might have gotten a better response. We had just been spoiled with two epic acts before.  That’s what killed it for A.M.P. in my opinion.

To make matters worse three bimbo plastics came barging in through the crowd and positioned themselves in the nonexistent space between myself and my girlfriend and the people in front of us.  Why these girls insist on carrying purses the size of carry-on luggage to a rock concert is beyond me.  Every time the blond jumped I caught a bag to the chest. It was all I could do NOT to rip it from under her arm and launch it somewhere very far away.

The trio had successfully managed to alienate every single person they had barged into to get in front of us.  When they tried to make a little mosh amongst themselves, the understandably annoyed people around them, myself included, gave them a brief glimpse of what a mosh pit really feels like.  FINALLY taking the hint and returned…backstage!!  With the “ditsy plastics” as fans and the emo look, A.M.P. never stood a chance.

Chevelle

After that respite we were ready for the headliners, Chevelle (Myspace), who did not disappoint one little bit!  We were treated to a nice mix of oldies and some of the new tracks from “Sci-Fi Crimes”, including the current single, “Jars”. I’ve yet to pick up my copy of “Sci-fi Crimes” but I’ll be doing that sooner than later!

Since this was my first time having the pleasure of a live Chevelle performance I was hoping they would play “Tug-O-War”. It was the first track I heard of theirs and it would have been sweet to hear one of the most played tracks in my music collection. Alas that was not meant to be.

The crowd were able to sing along with most of the songs which brought smiles to Pete (vocals) and Dean’s(Bass) faces.  The lads were active on stage and got right up to the audience.  Behind them, The lighting was enough give an epileptic a fit!  The backdrop was a huge version of the cover for the new album.

Music was deafeningly loud and the audience was loving it. I have to say I am becoming more and more a fan of smaller more intimate  venues. You feel more connected to the music and bands.

All in all one of the best concerts I’ve been to in a while! Look forward to seeing these acts again. Save one notable exception.  Chevelle: come play in Tucson sometime!