Tonight was THE BIG NIGHT. The moment the band had been waiting for. A moment that took an ETERNITY to arrive. What no one could have anticipated was that the BAND WOULD CRUSH IT.
Arriving early for the soundcheck, well before THE GRAPE ROOM even OPENS, the band got right down to business. They worked with the sound mixer to ensure that a MAXIMUM SONIC ATTACK could be felt.
Anticipation was building as this writer was busy back at BAND HQ entertaining the masses. And masses there were, the band had the second, or maybe even THE LARGEST CROWD depending on who you ask that night. Crowd size doesn’t matter, METALLICA played to 10 people at their first show. What matters is how THE CROWD reacts to YOUR PERFORMANCE.
It was one hell of a PERFORMANCE indeed! Kicking things off was the only true hiccup of the night, the instrumental jam known as “HIGH NOON”. The song was designed so it gets the crowds attention. It did, in its OWN WAY. A few sound issues were resolved during the jam thanks to the AMAZING SOUND MIXER. After “HIGH NOON” it was off to the races!
“How’s it going GRAPE ROOM!” SEAN shouted into the microphone, prompting the crowd of friends, family, and other bands to go nuts. The band kicked things off into high gear with an electrifying “DAY IN/ DAY OUT”, from there it was soon to be hit “SPOOKY”. The crowd was into it, at this point, the band could do no wrong. Then came the moment of truth, the moment where the crowd either turns on us, or invites us back for more.
The tricky, bluesy intro to WEEZER’S “SAY IT AIN’T SO”, was nailed to perfection by AJ. You can hear the crowd lose its mind over the cover. They even sang along to the “wrestle with Jimmy” lyrics as SEAN had intended. A momentous occasion indeed.
Next Up, AJ took us for a walk with his bluesy solo during the shoegaze styled “OTHERSIDE”. SEAN followed up the track with some bouncy bass grooves that led into a rousing “OH WHY”. DOM let loose some killer solos on “SWAMP PEOPLE”, a soon to be classic FREELANCE SWEATPANTS song.
After the SPRINT comes the HARD MARATHON. But music isn’t meant to be hard, it’s meant to be about the LOVE of it. LOVE was what we got when DOM took to the microphone to shout out VYNNESSA for her birthday.
JUSTIN got to show off his serious drumming chops on a cover of OK GO’S “HERE IT GOES AGAIN”, sans treadmills and jumping. Though the drumming Justin does is the equivalent of the jumping done in the music video. The song is hard, and he effin NAILED IT. The song was followed by “NEW MATERIAL”, which featured a big crowd reaction to a blistering DOM solo. The hard section ended with what SEAN described as a WHITE STRIPES deep cut “FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL”. The crowd fell in love with the band and SEANS’ delivery of the FAST-TALKING parts of that song.
“Give it up for JUSTIN”, and rightfully so, his performance during those songs were praised by members of other bands, fans and random mothers at the show.
The band then gave the audience a taste of its future, “UPSIDE DOWN” kicked off the alternative portion of the set. They later channeled the early 2000’s alt-rock scene on “STROKES-TYPE-THING.” The band finally brought HOUSE DOWN with an electrifying “HIGH ON A PLANE”, whose end jam brought the place to its knees.
This may have been the band’s 4th ever show, but they performed as though they had played FOR YEARS. If they keep up this level of PLAYING AND COMMITMENT, they just might be the NEXT BIG THING. Way to go guys, you made it to your version of THE RIVOLI! There was even a FAN with a RIVOLI hat at the show. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know WHAT IS.
SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS: THE GRAPE ROOM, BAD HABITS BOOKING, RYAN GADS, ECHO WHISKEY, and LAZER SHARK! HERE’S TO ANOTHER SHOW SOMETIME SOON!
SETLIST DECEMBER 29TH: THE GRAPE ROOM
- HIGH NOON (STARTED AGAIN DUE TO AUDIO)
- DAY IN/ DAY OUT
- SPOOKY
- SAY IT AIN’T SO (WEEZER COVER)
- OTHERSIDE
- OH WHY
- SWAMP PEOPLE
- HERE IT GOES AGAIN (OK GO COVER)
- NEW MATERIAL
- FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL (WHITE STRIPES COVER)
- UPSIDE DOWN
- STROKES-TYPE-THING
- HIGH ON A PLANE