Monday, September 10, 2012

Chronicles of live shows: Cali Bound

Road trips.  Business or for pleasure, jumping in the car and driving for hours across nothingness… highways, small towns, mountains, and iconic visions along the way.  Empty space, lonesome and free… knowing what awaits you at the other end of the road, an ever intriguing visit you feel unending comfort in.  No regrets in leaving behind your life for a few days, knowing relief from the woes of regular life will be stayed for a short while.  Heart and soul you know you look forward to this vacation from life and push on for the long trip ahead.  What awaits on the other side keeps your patience at an all time manageable level and your stomach flutters with anticipation… for this, this is what you know you have to live for. 

Five and half hours each way, driving across the California/Arizona border is no light feat without music.  Let me tell you about the radio stations along I10.  KUPD, my mainstay here in Phoenix, lasts almost to the border of California.  A godsend.  Hitting the mountains, the station becomes staticy but music still holds true.  A different station, however similar music, at least pleasurable music.  Getting further past the mountains, music tends to be either country or heavily religious.  Keeping with my local 97.9, there are a few hits with decent driving tunes.  Then, Coachella and Indio are hit.  The music on the radio is more diverse and indy, poppy at times as well.  Something to listen to.  Once Indio is hit, there is a plethora of radio stations driving into the more inhabited cities toward Los Angeles.  Every one of them have a seemingly non-related variety of music.  The first time I drove in, it was at 10 at night, and I was happy to hear a radio show playing some heavy fucking metal.  Fantabulous!  Earlier in the day, however, that same station and others are sadly lacking, though you can get lucky hearing some songs you enjoy.  I do have to say I love my Phoenix radio stations.  KUPD… I MISSED YOU!!  I am not a fan of California stations. 

Though the reason for my visit was not about the music, I saw a small sampling of what the local Cali scene has to provide.  I enjoyed it tremendously.  My first visit to the San Bernardino county included a pure punk show with bands Badass, Section 242, and a few other local punkers.  Great show.  At a private home, it was thrown together for a birthday party.  A half pipe was set up for the skaters, and as bands played in the spacious garage skaters aged from 10 to 40 tore up the ramps. 

Bad Ass, my favorite of the night..  Maybe it was femme bias love for a female presence in a band.  Maybe it was the pure energy of the music.  All I know is I enjoyed the fuck out of Bad Ass.  Tons of energy and a set list of songs with catchy titles and wholesome lyrics such as Cheater and Tuna Taco.  Tuna Taco is actually a gem of a song.  YouTube it!!  In addition to having a classic punk femme lead mic, she shares the duty of yelling with an equally lung'ed male counterpart.  The music oozed energy and puked class.  Section 242 is a close second in enjoyability live.  Onstage jokes and antics add to to their set list theme and angry attitude.  Both bands I hear are releasing cds later this month with Assault and Battery Records... catch a listen and buy their music!*

The second show I saw out in Cali was with the Dwarves and Narcoleptic youth.  Narcoleptic Youth is band I had been wanting to see for a while.  I heard them on one of the many internet radio stations I’ve visited and was glad to have the opportunity to see them live.  Larger in popularity than most bands I see it was no wonder they've made it beyond just being a "local band".  Their show was at a bigger venue, a club with a huge floor space and booth seating on the border walls.  There was a decent crowd at the show, though I heard referenced from a fellow patron it was a low turnout.  Contrary to the bands’ popularity, and expectance of larger crowds, it was disappointing to hear the show being cut short due to lack of audience participation.  When you get to a show like this, movement is mandatory!!  Leave the stripper shoes at home guys and gals.  Get in the pit!

The last trip I made out to California was bittersweet.  The second day I was there I hit Hollywood to see Switchblade 77 at the Roxy.  Though I am not a huge fan of psychobilly or horrorpunk, I had heard good things about them and their music online sounded like it promised a good show.  They took the stage with confidence and energy.  The lead guitar was a zealous flame of talent and flying fingers, providing a continuous complimentary wave of strings for the ball of energy that was the lead vocals.  The Roxy itself was a dive bar setting with a VIP section, but what I really liked about it was the stage.  Big and roomy, it allowed the members of the band not sitting behind the skins to move.  And boy did they.  Running around with more energy than the crowd SB77 gave a performance that was enjoyable and gave me a new found appreciate for the genre.  I did not stay to watch the rest of the bands, simply was not getting caught up in the other band's music.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.  However, Switchblade77, awesome show. 

I stayed almost a whole week in Cali that time, ending my trip tragically just before driving the five hours home to Phoenix.  Despite the bad taste of anguish my drive was peaceful and fulfilling, taking with me a great experience as well as a dedication to come back.  Next trip planned for the near future.  I would LOVE to see more touring bands from our neighbor state, as well as others, come through Phoenix.  Get on ovah heah!  If you haven’t played here, there is a lot of great local talent to play with, as well as music hungry fans who are biting at the bit to see more awesome bands.  And what did we learn from this whole experience kids?  Bring more cds, don’t let the horrible ending of a vacation take over your drive home, and GET INTO THE FUCKIN PIT!!


*Bad Ass' album has been pushed back to early 2013