Vaura at Bowery Ballroom

Describing the different sub-genres of Metal is not exactly my forte, but I guess for once I have to. Vaura are a sort of like a prog metal band slowed down a bit. The result is trippier and approaches the sound of shoegaze bands like MBV (which is how they got on this bill, presumably). Even without looking at the lead singer's guitar, though, you can still tell it's metal. Just listen to the super-heavy drumbeats, or the guitar-led parts which sound like a normal metal band (Megadeth came to mind a couple of times, which doubtless illustrates how little I know about metal). The point is that Vaura is metal first, but with hints of shoegaze.

Posted: 1/17/2014 at 10:01pm     Tags: Bowery Ballroom  Vaura 

Nothing at Bowery Ballroom

Nothing were a bit less... destructive than last time I saw them. Perhaps these big venues are a pickier about that sort of thing, though on the other hand the band seemed a bit sleepy/high.  Maybe they just weren't up for it?

Posted: 1/17/2014 at 9:59pm     Tags: Bowery Ballroom  Nothing 

No Statik at The Acheron

For New Year's I went to The Acheron. I caught six bands and three cans of Coors Light to the head.

The headliner, No Statik, is kind of a supergroup of (SF) East Bay hardcore bands. Some of the other bands on the bill were good, but this is the band which drove the crowd nuts.  And that lead singer of theirs is definitely nuts.  She wore herself out crowdsurfing and moshing but just kept going.  Nobody even noticed when they skipped the New Year's countdown, 'cuz at that point nobody was paying attention to some silly holiday at all.

Posted: 1/1/2014 at 1:57pm     Tags: New Year's Eve  No Statik  The Acheron 

Big Ups at Baby's All Right

Big Ups have a quiet-loud style which you don't hear too often in punk circles.  The nice thing about that is that the "quiet" part is that you can actually understand what they're saying.  Or maybe more to the point, the band has to write lyrics which mean something because if they don't the audience will figure out how silly they are.  Big Ups are definitely not silly.  They sing about life and death, about modern-day information overload, and generally serious stuff.  Then they get to the loud part, singer Joe Galarraga starts doing yoga and punk rock at the same time, and the crowd shifts into raw survival mode.

Someone shot a video of this show and I'm in it!  Sorry about getting in the way of the camera at 1:58 there.  Anyway, if you want to check out Big Ups live without being bruised and beaten then either stand near the back of the room or watch that video (or this one).

Posted: 12/31/2013 at 4:38pm     Tags: Baby's All Right  Big Ups  blue  Exploding In Sound Records 

Tancred at Pianos

Apparently some fans of the artist known as Tancred came out to see her because they liked her other band, a rock band called "Now, Now".  They might have been a bit surprised to see her perform solo, especially since the album has a full backing band.  But I suppose there is some logic to it.  The fans are excited about some new project by a musician they like and want to see it live.  The artist wants to build up a separate fan base before assembling a touring band.  Makes sense I suppose, though after the fact I started wondering what her long-time fans thought.  Hopefully they were pleasantly surprised.

Posted: 12/26/2013 at 9:44pm     Tags: Pianos  Tancred  What Blog?! Party