MAW Dog

*no photos because we were video taping this evening

The Music Alive Weekend at the Dirty Dog was not only filled with good music...but there is a really cool video interview coming out of that as well. Angel Skye developed some really deep questions for fans of Drastik IV as well as the band and we caught those questions on video.. I am currently working on the final edit and will insert the link on this write up when done as well as blow it out through YouTube, Facebook, and Tumblr.

The Dirty Dog (https://dirtydogbar.com/) is still my favorite place in the heart of the Austin, Texas down town music entertainment district. Located right on 6th St in the middle of all that is good and evil, LOL!

First band up this evening was The Taking (https://www.facebook.com/thetakingband) from San Antonio. Angel and myself were both very impressed by the sound of the band. It was what you wanted to go see if you were going to see a metal band. Although the crowd hadn't filtered in yet, we still made it a point to let the band know we liked their stuff in between every song. As I said, the music was a modern metal, screamo style...but without the gutturals. As a fan of music and live performances I can say that Angel and I kept waiting for the second vocals to kick in, sadly no. The lead singer did a good job, but there were some points were I cringed a slight bit. It was live and that is what you have to love about a live performance. I would guess these guys are fairly new and can see that more time gigging in front of the crowd and doing more shows will tighten this group up. Towards the end of the set the lead singer definitely loosened up or became more comfortable on the stage and was definitely killing it by the end. I will also say it is a great thing when the band gets off stage and makes the rounds through the crowd, thanking people for being there and enjoying it. We enjoyed it, and we appreciated the acknowledgment. Can't wait to see what they drop for an album and hope they cruise through Austin again. We will be there!

Waterparks (https://www.facebook.com/Waterparks) sorry guys. Due to a camera malfunction and a 45 minute walk to the car for the back up, we missed your set. BUT, Angel Skye picked up a copy of your disc and loves it. I was totally blown away and didn't expect the cool shit I heard on the way home that night. Sad, so sad, that we missed the performance even more after hearing the disc. Please let me know when you are gonna be Austin ways again. We would love to come see you and do a review of the performance, and try to bring a crowd with us as well.

Cosmic Wolf (https://www.facebook.com/cosmicwolftheband) is from here in Austin. This was as diverse a metal band as you can get. With a freaky, amazing lead guitarist from Las Vegas (score!) and a charismatic lead singer, the combination was stunning. Kicking in some really heavy, bluesy type songs and jamming some great rock in your ear drums throughout Cosmic Wolf is not way out there, but they are pretty damn deep! I was really shocked at the length of their set and how well it was put together. From the jump off to the last licks, these guys have their set list designed to keep you in the music the whole time. Great stuff, look forward to catching these guys as I hope they rock Austin frequently.

Okay, now for the elephant in the room! Yes, Drastik IV (https://www.facebook.com/drastikmusic) took the stage in support of their debut album 'Wrath of the Underdog'. It is a great album available at all of you major online music ports, so get it! I really love seeing this band, as the front man is in your face and all about the performance the whole time. He  makes a show of it for damn sure. These are some guys that you expect and would love to see on the Warped tour or even better, The MAYHEM FESTIVAL. Lets hope this happens. They cross the lyrical styling of...say...Rage...with their own blend of metal and really cool fucking vocal themes. The drummer is the most charismatic and animated drummer since Tommy Lee and dare I say, reasonably much better! The bass and lead guitarist are not to be left out as they are in constant motion throughout the bands performance. Look, it is simply like this, when you have a group of guys that love what they do, and love doing it in front of a crowd, it infects you, draws you in, and leaves you exhausted and happy you were there in the end.

Laters

I almost left it

The 'Take it or Leave It' tour rolled through San Antonio with a stop at The White Rabbit. Angel Skye wanted to go for her 17th birthday and see Sleeping With Sirens, so off we went to S.A.

So let's talk about The White Rabbit (http://sawhiterabbit.com). Seems that I am always hearing about metal shows going through S.A. and hitting the Rabbit, so I was actually pretty stoked to be going and check this place out. It is a totally inconspicuous place on a corner, just off of the hub bub of down town. The whole venue is comprised of 3 parts. The actual stage, which is situated at the narrow end of a split level, pretty large size, rectangle shape room with the bar opposite the stage. Then there are two outside areas on either side of the room. There are some picnic tables to sit at, but that seating is pretty limited. Hell, if you are gonna be at this type of show with screamo/punk music, you shouldn't be sitting anyway! I did take note, and pointed it out to Angel, that one side area seemed to have all of the parents herded off to a corner. Pretty fucking hilarious, seeing them sitting around, seemingly in a daze.

The issue that titles this blog is a play on the name of the tour and the hideous sound problem that was plaguing the mics for the bands. I do not want to crucify the sound man and venue or blame the bands, but it was monstrously fucking shitty. Angelina advised me that she has been at another show at The White Rabbit previously (same style of music) and there was a similar mic problem. SO...I refuse to point and blame, but seriously, as many shows that I hear about going through S.A. and stopping at the Rabbit, you would think they would have a better quality sound system, sound board, and sound man.

The mic issues had almost a 15 minute delay for one band while they tried to get the mics on. Another band had the lead singer struggling to keep his mic on by constantly fiddling with the cord while he was singing. Worse than that, the headliners (Sleeping With Sirens) lead singer, Kellen Quinn, launched in to their performance with pretty much no sound out of his mic for the first 2 songs. They only thing that saved the beginning of that performance was that every girl in the audience new EVERY SINGLE WORD to the songs and they were all singing at the top of their lungs. HAHAHA, didn't need a mic, the die hard, hardcore fans made the performance. The mic issue got fixed on the third song, but by then I was out the door to go sit in a corner.

Okay, now back to the music.

Lions Lions (https://www.facebook.com/LionsLionsMA?fref=ts) was the first band up and on stage. These guys are from Boston and definitely put on the 'A' game. With not as much gutturals as other bands I have heard in this genre, it was pretty much straight singing with some pretty crunching sound to back up those vocals. Speaking of back up vocals, I have to give a shout out to my new friend Jon, the bass player for Lions Lions. Here is this dude on stage with this gnarly looking beard, playing the bass, and makes you instantly think "Oh shit! That dude eats nails and spits bullets." HELL NO! (and the band and his friends will bust his balls for this) He opens his mouth and the most surprising, sweet voice comes out. Completely rivaling the lead singer, it just blew my fucking mind. I laughed from shock and told Angel, "Dang! Who would've ever thought a great voice would come outta that dude?!"  Overall, this was a great band to open the show. The music was very tight, it was energetic, and most of all the band looked as if they were having a lot of fun onstage...and THAT my friends, will make YOU have a great time at a Lions Lions performance!

DANGERKIDS (http://wearedangerkids.com) were the next up and yet another surprise. The drummer was a chick. Another 'Holy Shit!' kinda moment. Sorry, I am not sexist, I think it is awesome, but all of you know damn well that the music industry, this style of music, and that instrument is dominated by dudes! I thought it was pretty cool as I even addressed that question of chicks in the music scene with Chris Shelley from At The Skylines in a video interview I did (http://youtu.be/PXQMiVwZTdM). ANYWAY, gender aside, here was another performance that was top notch. I don't think any of the three bands that came on before SWS deserve to be called opening acts. DANGERKIDS absolutely took it to that next level, launching into song after song that had the audience in a frenzied mosh pit. Yet again here is another band that smiled and laughed the whole time they were onstage. Just great fun to watch and hear!


Conditions

(https://www.facebook.com/conditionsband) was a big surprise for Angelina Skye. She told me that she had sen them previously hear at The White Rabbit. Her complaint was that they seemed to have so much going on onstage, it gave her a headache. That was then, this is now. I understand what she said, there was no headache this time. They are technically pretty fucking amazing. They are super tight with their sound and performance and they seem to do things with the music and go places that some of the other bands in this genre don't do (I can name only one other band that is out there on the road right now also). Angelina was so blown away by the performance this time that she begged me to go get the CD for her when they got off stage. "Dad please! Dad! DAD! Please please please please? Dad dad dad dad please please please? DAD!" and then she was pissed when I didn't get the guys in the band to sign it, WTH!? So go see them, see them on a tour with multiple bands like this and you will get more than your moneys worth!

Sleeping With Sirens ( ) also know as Kellen Quinn's backing group of musicians or "OH MY GOD IT'S KELLEN QUINN AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jusus Christ! You would think that The Beatles and Elvis had a love child  thirty years late with all of the screaming, shrieking, creaming girls. WOW! A N Y W A Y, Sleeping With Sirens hit the stage and brought some pizazz and stage show with them. Moving beyond the issues I spoke of earlier, there is no doubt the charisma this band carries in their lead singer. I have seen, been at, and listened to hundreds of bands over a few decades and I think this took the cake for audience participation. It seemed that EVERY voice in the place, sang every lyric, to every song. What was even more impressive than that to me is hearing the band play and keep it together so well for the entire set. That was a lot of fun to experience and definitely worth the price of admission.

Part of doing this blog, is for the love of music. To tell you how much fun it was to be in the audience for any particular band. The other part of this is the memories I build, and the lasting memory of having a wonderful evening with my daughter, doing something that she wanted to do, will be forever in my heart, mind and soul. So to these four bands I will owe a lifetime of "Thank You's" for a wonderful 17th birthday with my daughter.

And if Lions Lions, DANGERKIDS, Conditions, or Sleeping With Sirens actually read this, I hope what I have said means a little something to you.

Laters

At The Skylines video interview

Here is the video interview with Chris Shelley from At The Skylines. This was shots minutes after their set at Emos in Austin, on the 'Scream It Like You Mean It' tour.

SXSW, 7 hours of waiting =

THIS!!!

waiting in line at 11 a.m. to see Asking Alexandria ( http://www.facebook.com/askingalexandria?sk=info )

and 11 other bands.

Then at 2pm we could see the door to the Red7 ( http://www.red7austin.com/ ), but couldn't get in, so...

across the street we went....to see this!!!

At The Skylines ( http://www.facebook.com/attheskylines#!/attheskylines )

Now let me tell you...after waiting 7 hrs, crowd freak watching, and snagging freebies whenever we could, we got into the "House of Blues/ANNEX showcase." It kicked ass!!!

At The Skylines was the first band up, of the six we saw. I don't have a problem with saying that this was definitely the way an opening band should be. Come out full tilt, balls out. THEY PLAYED LIKE THEY WERE THE HEADLINERS! With a song or two that I recognized from my daughters IPOD, I knew there was little doubt they were primed and ready to go. Although there was some bullshit issue with a mic that I am sure had to do with the venue, I will look forward to seeing these guys next time they are in town and possibly meeting them!

and these guys were from Houston,

Scale The Summit ( http://www.scalethesummit.com/ ). To quote my girlfriend "Not my Pint o beer". I actually love the music, but found that as an instrumental set it was really fuckin weird in the middle of this list. I imagined vocals to this and believe it could be some kick ass shit. My soon come out from the insane mosh down front and we conferred, but disagreed. He really liked it as it was. So there to all of you reading!, What you hear and like may not mean shit to the person next to you and vice versa.

and these cats

  

and then these bad muthafuckers were from San Antonio...

Upon A Burning Body ( http://www.facebook.com/uponaburningbody?sk=app_139229522811253#!/uponaburningbody?sk=info ). Now word is that my daughters cousin is bust buds with these guys. I have also heard and seen the YouTube video about there musical rivals (interesting stuff). Performance wise it was dead on for the crowd and the feeling. Here is another band that I would love to get another chance to see on a better stage/better and longer set. None the less they are pretty fucking tite (and the lead singer isn't an ego bitch! he was walking around in the crowd glad handing everyone who gave him props)

 Then

 Born of Osiris ( http://www.facebook.com/bornofosiris#!/bornofosiris?sk=info ). Now I could get punched for this, BUT this is what I would refer to as old school kick ass. It was the sound, the guitars, the look, and the attitude of the lead singer. Just got that good old fashioned Slayer feel while enjoying this set.

and finally Asking Alexandria ( http://www.facebook.com/askingalexandria?sk=info ). Now here is a headline that was born and bred to cause some shit. Fights in the crowd, inciting a tear down the wall kind of riot, this is rock n roll bitches! From across the water and having a great time in Austin for SXSW seemed like cake. Absolutely playing to the crowd and just being relentless was a great way to end the night. It did remind me (with WAYYYY less fire) of limp biskit at woodstock. Performing at a break neck pace and telling the crowd to tear down the walls. It was a free show after all. If you dare to go to a show in which the band caters to the most base animal instincts of a frenzied crowd...Asking Alexandria is not asking too much!

oh yeah...and these kids couldn't get in. So they tore down the damn gates and literally crashed the party. HELL YEAH baby!

Laters