I need to 'Banana Pants' a bit..

[bassred]

Well, that's what my wife calls it when she wants to talk trash without sounding trashy..'

 

 

Played a show with 4 other original acts on the bill.

 

Really felt like the only 'Professional' band there. Our gear worked, our sound was good, we knew what the hell we were doing...

 

I'll expand later, this is just a place-holder so I don't forget to talk about tonight's show... it has been an incredibly long Friday, and I need sleep. STAT!

[tim_7string]

It's no wonder that original bands wonder why their audience isn't growing when they don't bother to take pride in their own product. I mean, if I were presenting originals only, even if I wasn't interested in working towards a record deal, I would want to put on the best show possible every time to win over new fans every time we played. That means looking good, sounding good, having equipment that is reliable, everyone is well-rehearsed.

 

You guys apparently have a better work ethic than they do. I hope you will get more opportunities in return.

[Ku'Yleh]

we've been Duncan'd.

 

I am more interested in the etymology of the phrase "banana pants".

[bassred]

 

we've been Duncan'd. I am more interested in the etymology of the phrase "banana pants".

 

 

To be honest, I have no idea where it came from. It's just what my wife says when she wants to gossip and not sound like she's gossiping.

[bassred]

Alright, so I'm awake.

 

TO set the scene, I am not the type of person to be a 'tone snob', I applaud everyone who gets up on a stage and plays in front of other people. I know that every one of us had to start SOMEWHERE, and that was far from being the measure of perfect for all of us.

 

The venue is a long standing local rock joint with a long history. Some of the history is all about loud metal and bar fights (that's what I remember about the place from when I moved here in 2003.) but mostly it has been a place that has been a very up and down kind of place - At times the bands in the local scene LOVE the place, and others, they stay away, depending on the entertainment management at the time.

 

The lineup of bands started with a three-piece that plays a unique sounding rock. It reminds me of the Sonic Youth stuff from the 90's - I had a lot of friends who wrote and played that style of stuff back in the day. I really like what they do. The guitar player did keep saying (ON MIC) stuff to the sound guy about his guitar not coming through the monitors, to which the sound guy would nicely ask him to check the levels in the monitors (this was all between songs) and everything would seem fine, so I think that the distortion pedal he was using was the problem... Younger female bass player. Not especially tight but trying, and definitely not a 'bad' player. Drummer really held everything nicely together.

 

Second band was really new. Bass player and drummer were pretty solid, guitar player (who looked like he could be Ron Jeremy's brother) had technical issues. His Crate Flex Wave combo cut out on him - and the combo of his epiphone SG special through a Digitech mutli-FX and into the combo did not really produce any nice tones. He was a good player, but spent a lot of time looking at his hands/FX unit. Singer was a mix of gruff motorhead-like sounds and weak big rock screams. It was his 3rd gig with the band, and he had a music stand and binder with him the whole time. Again, I liked where there were going with their sound. It was like the Doors met Lemmy and jammed on some stuff.

 

We played 3rd. I don't to brag, but it was a good set. Between rehearsing 2 times a week and having been booked all but one weekend in the last month and a half, we're comfortable with our material and have fun! Even played a new tune last night (straight up country song called 'Take your Tickets, Kick your Asses'..

 

Next band is a hard rock/southern rock band we've played with a few times before. Overall, they are pretty good, but the guitar player had no time to tune between songs and was pretty badly out of tune for a song and a half. The singer is very confident and has good stage presence, but kind of loses me in the 'You have to be confident, but not cocky' category, as he leans toward cocky a bit too much.

 

The last band was a 'Black metal' band with a hot chick bass player, though you really couldn't hear her to tell if she was any good. Looked like she was playing the right notes. There was nothing special about the guitar player or drummer. The singer had a weird kind of gaze which was kind of freaky. I won't really comment on the music, because it just wan't my kind of thing. The entire front-line (bass, singer, guitar) all started the set wearing hoodies with the band's name on them, which I thought was kind of a no-no.. They ceremoniously took the hoodies off after the first song, which made the whole thing even more cheesy in my opinion.

 

I do not make disparaging comments while other bands are playing, but heard some of the other bands cracking-wise about some of the issues mentioned and it really bothered me. Everyone did a pretty good job, and the place was packed with a combination of all of our friends/*fans* (though I hate to call them that and seem pompous...) I really hope that this new direction in the entertainment management of this cool venue is really the way that things are going, because it really is a good place. They've made some much-needed changes (removed the drop ceiling and raised the FOH speakers about 10 feet, added a third monitor at center stage, cleaned up the look of the stage area a bit) and I can really see it becoming a great rock joint again!

 

We had many compliments and even some surprising comments like "Yeah, we all think that you guys will be the next local act to get signed, we love what you are doing!" - and we haven't even finished the EP we've been 'working on' since February... It gave me a new spark that this project is the right one for me. I'm having fun and our material is good, what more could a guy ask for?