One day I will learn not to wait until the last minute to get my concert tickets. Tonight for example, I was really looking forward to seeing this Mushroomhead show and if you've never seen them, run, don't walk, to get tickets ASAP. Anyway, I hadn't gotten my ticket yet, so as I was getting ready to walk out the door I made a quick check of Ticketmaster.com, only to find that no tickets were available. I knew my luck had to run out at some point. Just to double check and make sure the website didn't have incorrect information, I stopped by the local Ticketmaster outlet. Lucky for me, it was not sold out. A ticket in my hand and a smile on my face, I made my way to The Chance Theater for a night of metal.
I got to the club just before 7p.m. and didn't have to wait long for the doors to open, thankfully. I got through the security check and made my way inside. I took a spin past the merch table and checked out the array of Mushroomhead and Gizmachi gear before setting up camp near the pit and waited for the show to start.
First up was Trapnote. I saw these guys once before, but it was about three years ago and my memories of the incident are, shall we say, a bit fuzzy. They played a brand of screamo rock that was not terribly memorable. Their set was highlighted by a few interesting time changes and tempo shifts. The notes played never really came together in any real catchy manner. However, the ability seems to be there. Their performance had a couple of things going against it. One was their fault but the other was the club's. The mix was not terribly aggressive, and the overall sound was hurt by weak sounding drums and a low voice level. As for the band, there were a number of points where they appeared to miss some notes/beats, something just sounded a bit off. Still, they had energy and the apparent ability, they just need to move to the next level and pull all of their tools together. I would be interested in seeing them again.
Next up was Blood Feast Island Man. What's in a name, huh? I guess it's official, all the good ones were taken. I kid, I kid. But in all honesty, I did not care for these guys. They just sounded like another scream along hardcore act. I have heard this all before, and I've turned it off. What did it for me this time was the singer, or rather, vocalist; he was just up there screaming himself hoarse. I still have no idea what he was saying. Always have something good to say, they had some pretty good heavy riffs and some cool harmony leads on the twin guitars. At about the 17 minute mark, disaster struck. One of the guitarists broke a string, they asked if anyone had a spare, but were met with silence. It reminds me of something other musician friends have told me — never be without a backup. They tried to play a couple more songs, but his axe clearly was off. It looked as if the drummer was having some trouble as well. That brings me to my final point, the drumming was so pedestrian. It was like they were playing with a student who only knew the basics. I guess these guys just weren't for me but the rest of the crowd didn't seem terribly impressed either.
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