Musical Moments #2

Okay, I totally went to this concert -last- Saturday...but I didn't really feel like writing up my thoughts on it until now.


Without further adieu...
The lineup:

1. Spinal Cross
2. TwoFold
3. Nine Left Dead
4. Aranda

This was at the Diamond Ballroom, so I'm fairly familiar with the venue. Tickets were $10, which is ridiculous for a show of this quality. I'd have paid that to see the headliner alone, no question.

Anyway, on to the show.

Spinal Cross was nothing remarkable, but that's not surprising. They felt like they were new to the stage, and I try to avoid holding that against a group. It can be tough.
It was pretty amusing, though, because every other band present kept calling them "Spinal Tap." Props to those who get the reference, suffice it to say they didn't quite make it to 11.

TwoFold was pretty good. Also very new, but a pretty decent stage presence. I should mention that so far we are in the moderate realms of rock - nothing hugely loud and thrashy, nothing that qualifies as "easy listening."
I tried to pick up their cd, as they impressed me, but they had sold out by the time I hit the merch booth - surprising, since that was only about an hour into the show.

Nine Left Dead, I know a little more about. A friend is acquainted with them, and they are local.
That said, they were pretty damn good. Good solid stage presence, although they were obviously more experienced touring than their openers. Good sound, too. I was able to pick up their cd, so you might see a review of that later.
Also, we moved into the area I like to call Hard Rock at this point. A guy behind me in the crowd thought they were kinda metal, which was amusing. He was very clearly there for a softer sort of show.
I think I liked their drummer the best. Energetic and not too hit-heavy, and not bad with a double bass pedal either.
Probably the best moment for this band, however, was chatting with the singer after their set, and learning that they call this friend of mine's brother "Cooter." Lol-tastic, if I say so myself.


Aranda is also local, Oklahoma City area. I didn't realize that, and I feel awful for that lack. They are easily the most musically talented group I've seen or heard from Oklahoma, and firmly sit in the top 5 rock bands I've seen live.

They've got a simple setup - the guitarist sings, there's a second singer (not sure I'd call him the lead, though, they share the load pretty evenly,) a bassist, and a drummer. 4-person setups are getting exceptionally rare these days...usually there is a rhythm guitarist involved, etc etc.

Most of the tracks came from their new album, Stop the World. If you're unfamiliar with the sound, go look that up. It is a very funky sort of blues-rock, if I were going to call it anything, but don't let that color your curiosity...I know funk isn't for everyone.

The guitarist/singer? That talent level is absolutely absurd. Listening to the album, you can tell he's skilled, but I would -never- have anticipated the level of improvisational aptitude or sheer ability to solo. This guy had his guitar over his head, in the singer's hands, held above him while he crawled on the stage on his back, and even (yes, I am being serious here) played it skillfully using the soft side of his boot. They called that last trick "Das Boot."

For the more discerning, I'd say he's well on the way to the skill bracket with John Petrucci and other such musicians. I wouldn't say that lightly.

It makes the singing all the more impressive. As you might guess from the blues-rock bit, they have a pretty clean sound with a rough edge to it so far as vocals are concerned. You could easily compare them to singers like John Mayer, although the combination of the two is far superior so far as I am concerned. It is not hard to believe they got started as a duo with an acoustic guitar...not hard at all, considering they are brothers.

I won't leave out the bassist and drummer - spot on for keeping time, and the bass player has some serious ability to lay down a groove...something I've found a fair number of bands seriously lacking in the last few years. For the musically inclined, that means he can sit himself in the pocket, or on the back of the beat, and stay there with precision and ease borne of being very passionate about what he does. Too many bass players lately have given me the impression that they just want to be a guitarist, and I don't much care for that.

The thing that struck me the most about the performance, though, was the end.
That is to say, by the time they left the stage these guys were absolutely drenched in sweat. The crowd spent some time cheering for an encore, and while it didn't come I can't blame them at all.
If you had asked me, after the show, if I thought they had enough energy left to play a single note more, I'd have said no. It was very clear, beyond the guitar riffs and the singing and the grooves and the humor (and some pretty effective crowd-working as well) that these guys had put every ounce of energy they had into this show.

That struck me because such a high level of passion is impressive regardless of what profession we're talking about. It sticks out a bit more in music, but that isn't to say it is lacking in other areas. There is a reason these guys will succeed, and it has nothing to do with having a good label, good advertisement, whatever.

I'll end with that thought, actually: if you are going to devote yourself to something, to call it your life, and you fail to do so - not with 100% of your effort, nor 200% - but until you have put every ounce of energy from every cell in your body into this thing, until you have absolutely nothing left...why bother doing it at all?

- C