 |
|
Seven Mary Three live at the Galaxy TheatreWith The Burdon Brothers, Adore and Blew Fluid! | ||||||||||
 |
| J.C. Maçek III The World's Greatest Critic! |
|
|
As I said, though, we didn't know this at the time. Instead we concentrated on the bland food and rising rock on the grainy P.A. system. One thing you can say about opening band Blew Fluid is that they're prompt. Right on cue at 8 PM a trio of the inheritors to the Punkier Grunge Scene took the stage. Containing a long haired drummer, a lead singer/ guitarist with a messy bob and a tall, lanky bass player, Blew Fluid had Nirvana written all over them. Hell the main difference between Blew Fluid's front-man and Kurt Cobain was hair hue. However, musically, these guys aren't anywhere close to the old Carbon Copy territory. Their energetic show did bring back memories of the Rock of the Early Nineties, however, they were by no means derivative. Instead they appeared to be using Grunge as their seed from which to grow, never living in the past, but building upon it. Most welcome of all, Blew Fluid's music was remarkably layered considering the fact that they were a three-man band. Instead of exact harmonies, each of the three musicians allowed for divergent, yet complimentary leads, adding up to a more textured whole! Unfortunately, like The Over-Reactors before them, Blew Fluid were the victims of an acoustic misalignment forcing a more percussion-heavy set, masking what probably were better songs than what came through the speakers. No amount of Stage Dives and Floor-Writhing can make up for that. Know what that means? After the Alien Apocalypse I've gotta see them again! YYY
The clouds above the Galaxy Theatre began to spin and churn themselves into a funnel with gaseous tendrils reaching out into the night. Unbeknownst to us we were all in great, great danger! But what did we care at the time? My young-un was attempting to enjoy a thoroughly empty cheeseburger, while I munched on over-priced Tostitos and a bottled water I had to take out a Loan for!
Earlier, we had been offered free CDs from a couple of Blokes in the Lobby, stating "We're on second!" As I knew nothing yet about the monsters at the door, I responded "Cool, looking forward to it!" Not enough though, because the second act, Adore managed to be the best show of the night! Imagine Deftones meeting Live backstage at a 311 Concert. Adore mixes the best elements of those guys without ever sounding exactly like any of those bands! Lead Singer Sizzo shaven head and animated tattooed Buffness bounded about the stage in a party animal rage that got the whole crowd into their unique brand of progressive pop thrash. But even with their more Poppy influences, Adore has an aggression unparalleled on most stages, without ever falling into the Murky Negativity that mars some of the best thrash bands out there. Sure these guys are having fun, but they're also taking their music seriously. I can't promise you they're going places, but I promise you they deserve to! I urge you to check out their website at http://www.AdoreMusic.Net. They've got a new album coming out soon. I challenge you not to get the lyric "Raise your, Raise your Hands to Freedom!" stuck in your head! Adore made the whole show worth going to! YYY1/2
It took a small eternity for the Roadies to set the stage for the next band. At a full half-hour of wait time, the next band had better blow me the hell away! Well, if wishes were horses then Beggars would ride! Whether because of poor acoustics or overall lack of crap-giving, The Burdon Brothers, the latest project from Toadies front-man Todd Lewis were the big disappointment of the evening. While they opened up interesting enough with an angry, guitar-ripping set, rife with angry vocals and repeated riffs, The Burdon Brothers quickly disintegrated into same-ness as most every song sounded like the one before, which sounded like the one after. At some points I imagined that the band's Texan post-hardcore and angry screams were designed to mask the evil construction of the mechanical evils outside. Even during some of the prerequisite Slow-Songs, the Burdon Brothers seemed much more derivative of Deftones than really putting their mark on something that... let's face it, was a Power Ballad with a Hard Core Twist. Further it appeared that the Burdon Brothers' five biggest fans were the five guys on stage. Was a Drum Solo really warranted in the middle of an already overlong set? Guys, you're not that big yet! Well, we never walk out on a concert but at that point we tried... and were met with the shock of the face of the Zeta-Reticulan Monsters of Doom, intent on replacing us with Pod Clones before feeding us to their Arcturan Snails! My kid and I carefully weighed the options between seeing the rest of the show and dying at the hands of Zantorion. We reluctantly decided on the show. After their final song, the un-endurable "Dirty Sanchez" :(, the Burdon Brothers went through a Punctuation Punch of Guitar and drums that lasted as long as the song itself and reminded one of Bart Simpson banging on a Pot and chanting "I am so great! I am so great! I am so great!" Now, Burdon Brothers, before you send me hate mail, I don't want to sell you too short. It's clear that this band worked hard on honing their particular style of Hard-Core meets Soul Asylum style, and there's a lot to be said for making your own way on that stage of yours. YY
It was too dangerous to leave yet, and the next show was set to start soon. Naturally it didn't. To prove to everyone in the crowd who inspired most of these sets, the Sound System pumped out Deftones' White Pony album almost in its entirety! My daughter had fallen asleep during the Burdon Brothers' show, so I moved us to a more comfy seat. Ignoring the Carnage outside, the Post-Grunge Foursome Seven Mary Three came to the stage and played a Pearl Jam meets Nickelback hard-rocking Grunge. While this wasn't Seven Mary Three's best day (Lead Vocalist Jason Ross indicated he'd had his heart broken for the fiftieth time that night), and it's clear that their best days are either behind them or in front of them, it's equally clear that from the band's talent they indeed do have good days. Their best moments included their almost bluesy/ metallic moments! However, some of their lighter moments did feel a little forced and derivative, most especially the amazing (at first) rendition of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", which unfortunately dissolved into "DID-I-SCARE-YOU" electric Guitar attacks that betrayed an excellently creepy opening. By the time Seven Mary Three gave us their break out single "(I have become) Cumbersome", they had indeed become Cumbersome, and the victims of the previous band's over-staying of their welcome. Out of the overall clichéd second wave of the "Alternative Rock"/ Grunge Movement, Seven Mary Three are still among the best of that sub-set, and worth a look if they're coming to your town, but beware of the inter-stellar bad guys who might be descending on that same night! But if the mid-nineties KROQ thing isn't your bag, then neither is this show. "Water's Edge" and other hits are worth the show, and the guys come off as cool enough. Check out their new album "DIS/Location" and tell me what you think! YYY
Collectively the whole show gets Three Stars out of Five! A little less Ego Stroking and a little more multi-purpose strumming might make for a sweeter show, but all told, it's a good one to check out! And, yes, before the day had broken my progeny and I, along with General Jack Crashrom and his Flying Kings did indeed defeat the mindless hoards of the menacing Zantorion the Conqueror...
But that... is another story!
| What's New? | Alphabetical Listing of Reviews! | SearchThisSite: | Advertise With Us! | About... | Lynx Links: | F*A*Q |
|---|
