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Music Reviews:
4/19/05 - Ok, sorrie about the delay, but I had to look around and find
the perfect band to start this off. I think I've found a good one... Art Of Dying (www.artofdying.8m.com) I first heard about these guys from a friend named Matt, who is the bassist of Permanent Midknight. He was talking about joining another band, and "co-bassing" (another one of those kick
ass words) with Art Of Dying. After he joined, Matt being
a friend of mine and all, I figured I'd go check them out. So, I went to The Money in Rock Hill, SC on April 29th. On the
bill was Art Of Dying, Word of Few, Joshua's Whisper, and Trip Element. Art Of Dying had to open up the show, and only played
in front of 10 people at most. It was shitty, but what can you do? Anyway, Art of Dying got on stage and immediately started throwing down, even though there was hardly no crowd to feed
off energy from. These guys were awesome on stage, lots of energy and kick ass music. Right now, I'm listening to "Cry You Razor Blades". I really like this song. At the beginning,
the hard-hitting drums and deep growls catch my attention and leave me headbanging for the rest of the song...and for the
rest of their set, for that matter. It's pretty fucking badass! So If you haven't checked these guys out, I think you need
to go over to the Shows page, and find out when they're playing again. \m/ Tracy
Show Reviews:
4/9/05 - The last show I went to was on April 7th at The
Money in Rock Hill, SC. Staggerback, Sick Sanity, and Wednesday 13 played. The night started out pretty insane, because either
Wed.13 or The Money didn't want the other 2 bands to have guest lists. $10 to get in, instead of the $8 that was advertised.
Staggerback had to open, which I thought was a little fucked up, but since they jumped on the bill earlier that week, they
had no choice. Finally, after the whole guest list deal got dealt with, Staggerback took the stage and ripped the Money
apart. They are one of the few local bands I see that could actually make it. With the music, the stage show, and the people
they know, they could do it. (And if anyone doesn't know, Scott, Staggerback's guitarist, was in a band called Omniblank,
which 2 of the other members when on to be in MASTADON) Then Sick Sanity took the stage. I've seen these guys several times,
but that night just didn't come up to par as the other shows. The vocals were a little too squeaky and made you cringe during
certain parts of the songs. Of course, Wed.13 was no where to be seen during the opening bands, but came out and rocked the
place. I actually liked this performance better than his past shows I've seen, because he didn't do as much lame-ass in-between-songs
stage prop bullshit. No KFC, no signs that say "Thank You Satan", and no brushing mannequin's wigs off. Wed.13's new guitarist, Matt
(AKA "Pig") was badass though. He's from LA and had only been rehearsing with the band for a week before this show. That mofo
picks up quick. He's badass and he fits with the image of the band. Overall, was a kick ass show. \m/ Tracy
4/25/05 - On Saturday (April 23th), I went to a show at The Alamo.
It's right off of Main St. in Gastonia, NC. Dark Autumn opened up the show with the best show I've ever seen these guys pull
off. They wore their facepaint while they played this time, which they usually
don't wear except for promo pics and shows where they have time to put it on. And any musician knows, shows where you're opening,
you don't usually have much time in between getting there, setting up, sound check and starting the show. The crowd tends
to get a little impatient. But yeah, they pulled off a DAMN good show, and the crowd loved it. Obsidan took the stage and slaughtered Gastonia. These guys are from Raleigh, NC, and I didn't hear
of them until they emailed me about taking pictures at the Alamo show. So, I listened to their shit on MySpace.com, and honestly
wasn't all that impressed. But when I saw them at the show, I was EXTREMELY impressed. They were badass. If you haven't
checked these guys out yet, you better ask around and find out when their next show is. Then, once again, yet another time
(and definitely wont be the last) Dead 7 goes on stage and blows everyone's brains out. Well, not literally. But seriously,
these guys get better and better every fucking time I see them live. They're amazing, and they care about each and every person
that comes to shows and supports local music. They're a very personal band, and that's one thing that I love about their music,
they're deep and personal. But then
Blyster got on stage and honestly, that was the best show I've seen them put on before also. Paul from Word of Few and Jesse from Dead7 got on stage and did a song with Blyster, and kicked ass. All the bands were just badass that
night. If you missed this show...I'm sorrie. \m/ Tracy
Venue Reviews:
4/4/05 - I'm going to start this off with JB'z. It's right
off of Sugar Creek Rd. in Charlotte, NC. I've been there once. Honestly, it was WAY different that what I was expecting. For
a place called "JB'z Roadhouse", I was expecting something along the lines of The Alamo (an old steakhouse turned venue in
Gastonia, NC) or The Money (a bar/dance club type place in Rock Hill, SC), both somewhat small, but have decent sized stages.
But anyway, back to JB'z...this place was smaller than The Money and The Alamo. The bar is in the back (which serves a pretty
good selection of alcohol), a few tables on the back wall and the stage is in the corner of the room. The stage is raised
about 1-2 inches off of the floor and is about 7-10 feet from the back corner to the front of the stage. The parking is horrible.
On the left side of the venue, there is about maybe 10 parking spaces, and about 5 or 6 on the right. Other than that, there
is grass, and after or during rain, you park in the mud. I, unfortunatly, got there a little late, and had to park in the
mud. Driving a 2wd pick-up truck, I got stuck. I eventually got out, with help from Olinville. I was a little disappointed
with the venue, but none-the-less, it's another venue for bands to play, so it's all good with me. \m/ Tracy
4/18/05 - This time, my venue of choice will be THE BATTLEGROUND in
Lancaster, SC. This venue, formally known as LA TUNA is truely
'old skool' because around 3 or 4 years ago, there were plenty of bands in and out of this place. Mindspill, Civility Burns,
Bleed Christine, Shiver, Astrid Haven among others used to play this place and bring huge crowds with them. The stage used
to be good-sized, raised up about waist-level, with a nice PA, a lighting system, pool tables, and of course a beer-filled
bar. Charlotte area people and others around NC had no problem driving down to Lancaster to see a show, because alot of kick
ass bands used to play here. But unfortunatly, after a while, La Tuna died out and no one played there any more. There was
also a wall that was put up to cut off half of the place to make a mexican convienence store, and coincidentally, the store
took over where the stage was, so the stage was broken down and who knows what has happened to it now. A smaller stage
was put in the corner of the room temporarily. This is when the high school hardcore bands took over with a vengeance...of
course while thrash dancing and kicking the air. The place was taken under new ownership by Robert O'Neil and he has recently
let one of the kids book bands there to give the Lancaster (and surrounding areas) kids something to do on the weekends. The
kid that has been booking, Tyler, has gotten a few friends together and has re-done the place, as well as renaming it THE
BATTLEGROUND. I helped these guys put up part of the new stage, and let me tell ya, it looks pretty damn good so
far. The stage has been carpeted, a PA has been put up, lights have been changed around, pool tables are still there, and
yes, the bar is still there as well. I have also talked to Tyler about booking a metal show there. He "kickass-ing-ly" (ya
like that word, don't ya) replied, "Let me know a date and what bands..." So I have since then been working on booking a show
there. It will be a trial metal show, just to see what kind of crowd I can bring. If all goes well, I might book a couple
more shows there. I have set it for Friday, May 27th. Permanent Midknight, Tradeskin (formerly Deviant5) and Word of
Few will be tearing up the stage that night. Doors open at 7pm, only $6 cover, so everyone come out and rock out with us...at
the BATTLEGROUND. \m/ Tracy
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