| | I realize that it's been a while since I posted one of these bad boys. I have been planning on it, long before that annoying Sorensen (sp?) starting harassing me about it. So here are some thoughts on the last four shows we've had.
January 29 - Arguably my two favorite bands in the world, Stuck With Arthur and Last Tuesday, playing the same show. Of course I loved it. I'm not personally a huge fan of Staple (who headlined the show), but they put on a good show. SWA was amazing as always. As was Last Tuesday; Carl was his usual overly-energetic self, but that's why I love him as a musician. He reminds me of Reese Roper in FIF's prime, in that you know he absolutely loves what he does. And I got to hang out with Carl quite a bit, and he's a really good guy, as are everyone else in Last Tuesday. Right before them was The New Ending (why LT keeps touring with harder bands, I will never know), and they've been very well received around here since their show with Spoken, and for good reason. And Approaching Nain opened the show, and there's already a few other shows I want to throw them on down the road. Good show; it made me happy. Thanks to Dana and... um, the other member of General Sherman that hosted one of the touring bands (I forget which one it was... my bad).
January 31 - ANOREXIC BEAUTY QUEEN. Seriously, who doesn't love those guys? Nicest guys in the world, and they do the indie-emo thing as well as anyone else. General Sherman played with them, which was a treat for me (don't tell anyone, but I like them more than the Envy Corps... and I really like the Envy Corps). Apparently, they have an HOB curse. But I was still glad they played. The KGB headlined, which I'm sure is a big reason so many freakin' people were at the show. Slaughterhouse 6 brought the heat, and they reaffirmed the fact that they are easily one of the most fun bands in the Des Moines scene. And they brought a bunch of Odgen kids out to the show... who knew that Ogden even had kids? And the little cuties from Bleached Black opened the show; I've said this many-a-times before, but there are a lot of local bands that could learn a thing or two from Bleached Blacks great attitude. On a side note, I somehow managed to pop one of the tires on my chair that night, but tried to not let anyone notice. So I barely moved the whole night, and made Darin do all of my running around for me. Thanks mang.
February 8 - The return of AIRBAG! Seriously, even if you don't like hardcore, you need to make it to an Airbag show. They are one of my favorite live bands, and I'm not even a big hardcore fan. Tyler was born to be the frontman for a band. Leven came down for the show, and it's always a pleasure to work with them; hopefully that will open a door for Airbag to get in on a good show at the Reverb or Gabe's. Burning The Broken once again proved that they have a draw, and that there's a good reason for it. Another local with the sort of work ethic local bands should have.Farewell To Twilight made their 515 debut, and they were well-received, which is saying something given the critical nature of the 515 hXc kids. And Amidst The Affliction opened the show; these guys will climb the 515 hXc scene quickly. In my opinion (which may not mean much) they have some of the best vocals around, and again, the all-important attitude. And lots of friends, which never hurts.
February 11 - This show turned out WAY better than I expected. 100+ kids. Atombender opened the show (making their HOB debut) with their synth/ska set. These guys are a pretty big deal in Ames, and if they get in front of the right people in Des Moines, they could do pretty well there, too. They even got a shout-out from And Then I Turned Seven later in the evening. Right after Atombender was Tomorrow's Storm. Why they don't have a huge following, I know not. I think they need to form a coalition with Cantus Firmus and start demanding some respect in the scene. They both deserve a good following, but haven't found it yet. The crowd was really into ATITS, who put on a good live show. They even utilize their violin player well, but that's obviously going to give them a lot of Yellowcard comparisons if they even get big. Their song "In Loving Memory" is probably going to be in my Top 100 songs of all time (but I prefer the more acoustic version you can find on their Purevolume site). And finally, Beside Nothing headlined. Very honestly, they get better every single time I hear them play. They've added keys, which was a good move. I say give them a year's worth of working really hard, and they could go from being a sorta big deal to a really big deal. Especially if they keep improving as much as they have been lately.
Okay, that's enough for now. Next shows are:
February 17, 5:00 - CHASING VICTORY, An Airbag Saved My Life, When We Fall, Burning The Broken, Keep And Confess, House Of Commons - The Moose Lodge, Altoona - $5/$7, IowaTIX.com
February 18, 5:00 - THE EFFECTS, Stuck With Arthur, Offering [last shwo in central Iowa ever!], Slaughterhouse 6, Stallions Versus Unicorns - House Of Bricks, Des Moines - $6 @ the door
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