Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Bruised and Battered

So the hard facts of college life necessitate saving money sometimes and that means I unfortunately can't go to every show I'd like to; all of you have to suffer accordingly because you miss my voice and extrapolations on the world of live music. Nonetheless, an addict can't stay away for too long and I found my way last week to a show capable of reinstating a love of music in a deaf person. If you don't know Mastodon, look them up, and if you are aware of their existence, please drop whatever you're doing, give Crack the Skye a listen and imagine what I went through last Monday. No matter that I hadn't been to a true, badass metal show in years, the power exuded from that stage made me a metalhead through and through. Before the show, my friends and I kidded ourselves and decided that we were going to sit back and watch them make the beautiful music they produce. After all, I'm getting old and the mosh pit is no country for old men, but the minute I made it into the show I couldn't help but get evil and throw elbows with the best of them (or at least try and keep up).
Before I sing Mastodon's praises any more, I have to give it up to Between the Buried and Me. I first listened to them about an hour before the show and was intrigued by their smooth transitions from melodic rock to thrash. Tommy Rogers opens up Colors with ease before it becomes apparent he is more than a pretty voice, but I wondered how that would translate into a show packed with bloodthirsty fans wearing black t-shirts. Truth be told, it was great even though I was both a little too tipsy for coherency and moving way too fast to really take it in, but their ability to play down the mania at any point made for much needed breaks from the pit. But no one told Mastodon their fans might appreciate a break, so when they took the stage the whole show got a step darker and more hectic. The pit transformed from a group of kids just pushing off each other into a mass of bodies intent on making their own space where there was none. Pardon my negativity, it sounds like I had a bad time, which is far from the truth.
Don't get me wrong, I thought the show was amazing, but I haven't been that battered from a show in a long time, so I'm capitalizing on my right to complain. We all know the stereotypical metalhead with the studded jacket and a Slayer shirt, the one you're supposed to be scared of, so I was surprised to see compassion in the pit. When I lost my balance in the pit and tripped over own shoes, I thought I was a goner looking at the bottoms of those combat boots but my guardian angel must all like metal. I was caught by an innocent bystander who snagged my hat, picked me and threw back to the sharks with only the advice, "Watch your hat, bro!" Thank goodness we have intelligent folk like him in the world. Anyways, my point is that only under the formative wing of those brilliant lunatics could such a stellar moment occur, so I'm forever grateful to them for keeping the mayhem somewhere in between watching paint dry and a hospital bed.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Typhoon


This incredibly large band took on the small stage at the Someday Lounge Saturday playing their second show of the night for their album release "Hunger and Thirst". The band opened with a video that captured the size of the band while playing "Starting Over Bad Habits" from their new album. The start of the show was slow with the presentation of the video and the band getting into a huddle before playing. Immediately after breaking the band huddle, Typhoon broke out, from what I could count the 12 person band across the stage and began the much anticipated show. Being an album release show in the bands hometown, the crowd was full of enthusiastic fans but Typhoon kept to their music and played through their set. Without too much talk about the new album on stage, Typhoon would play two or three songs before talking to the crowd about the album or the next song that they were going to play, unlike their second opener who stopped between each song to talk to the crowd. This was surprising because this show was so highly anticipated and the announcing of the album release was highly publicized with music commentaries in the Portland Mercury and Willamette Weekly. Typhoon was no doubt entitled to stop and discuss each song that was on the album but chose not to and pleased the crowd with their extensive range of music.
Typhoon was able to make a lot of space out of such a small stage with as many band members as they have. Despite a well deserved slow start to the show, Typhoon had a great stage presence and did put on a show that was equivalent to the amount of hype that was given about their album release and show. Had they not performed so well one could only question the press building up their show but that was not the case here as Typhoon rocked the house at the Someday Lounge. Though this band has been around for more than 5 years, I would say that this is a young band on the verge of becoming something a lot bigger than their local and small tour fan base. Typhoon is a band made up of very creative musicians that is something to see live for their Soul/Healing & Easy Listening/Black Metal music and their unique collaboration of 10+ musicians on stage at once.


To follow Typhoon and see when they are coming near you check out their website: