Battle of the Bands at Baloo's
Okay, so Saturday I proved that I CAN make bad decisions. It's a chronic thing, but what can you do. That's what happens when you're a human being. Anyway, lets get to the details shall we?
Throughout last week I was getting calls from my friends as to what I was going to do on the weekend. To each that called, I gave a possible scenario, but told them that nothing was concrete. I was torn between X-mas shopping, the STMP show at Smiley's, the Battle of the Bands at Baloo's and the Cowboys game. But with so many choices, I did what any guy in my shoes would do. I decided not to decide. Actually, I chose to just stay home and study my new drum machine. I've had it for months now and haven't tried it out at all. Shame on me.
Anyway, after work Saturday morning I went straight home. I didn't follow my regular Saturday morning routine of buying two beers at the local convenience store and drinking them with dinner. (Breakfast if you really want to get technical.) Instead, I got home, had a light meal since I had nothing in the fridge and then went to bed.
I woke up sometime after 4:00 pm pretty much rejuvenated. I still didn't feel like going out, but the thought of sitting down and studying a new technology suddenly didn't seem so appealing. So I decided to attend the Battle of the Bands at Baloo's. Mind you, this event was advertised as an 11 or 12 hour event with some 20 bands performing. By the time I awakened, this event was already well underway.
I should've stuck with my nature and gone to the STMP show at Smiley's. I knew that the fare at Baloo's was going to be of the Alternative genre. Well, the majority of it was anyway. But there was one band that I just had to see. A band called Helleri. Now, these guys aren't Alternative. They're a NuMetal band out of Santa Rosa and their shows have been known to be very energetic. I'd seen them once before at a McAllen venue and the whole event was a snapshot of orchestrated insanity. It ruled! However, that Helleri was a completely different band. But lineup changes haven't done much to diminish their power except maybe change their sound and style a tad.
Anyway, I went to Baloo's with the intention of watching Helleri and only Helleri. The information that I'd gotten stated that they were to go on at 7:oo pm. I got to the venue a little before that, paid the 5 bucks and thought nothing of it. I few moments later, I see one of the guitarists from Helleri (a fellow I'd jammed with in a band before) and go over to engage him in some light chitchat. It's during our brief conversation that I learn that there's been a 2 hour delay and that they wont go on till 9:00 pm. That was a little bit more time than I wanted to invest on this outing. Since I'd already paid the 5 bucks, I decided to stay.
A weekend getting tortured at Guantanamo Bay would've been time better spent. I had to sit through the performances of 4 Alternative bands before Helleri took the stage. Oh my god! The torture. The humanity. The pitiful sounds of Jimi Hendrix wannabe's in 90's grunge outfits with ambitions of being the next College Radio breakout stars. I was not in my element. The crowd at the venue seemed quite happy with the bands. Needless to say, I didn't like the crowd either. They seemed like well to do, bored preppy college kids dressed either as neo beatniks or witty goths emulating Bette Paige. I better stop myself, now.
Helleri gave their usual high energy performance. However, the venue didn't lend itself to the intensity of their sound. The fact that the performance was outdoors and the stage a concrete floor seemed to zap the power out of the punch that the band was trying to deliver. Their timing was impecable, their sound clean and clear and their enthusiam was there, but again, the oomph was lethargic. Not that it's a bad reflection on the band, but rather a poor choice of stage location on the part of the promoters. I would've imagined a better sound quality from the recording studio that organized the event.
Throughout last week I was getting calls from my friends as to what I was going to do on the weekend. To each that called, I gave a possible scenario, but told them that nothing was concrete. I was torn between X-mas shopping, the STMP show at Smiley's, the Battle of the Bands at Baloo's and the Cowboys game. But with so many choices, I did what any guy in my shoes would do. I decided not to decide. Actually, I chose to just stay home and study my new drum machine. I've had it for months now and haven't tried it out at all. Shame on me.
Anyway, after work Saturday morning I went straight home. I didn't follow my regular Saturday morning routine of buying two beers at the local convenience store and drinking them with dinner. (Breakfast if you really want to get technical.) Instead, I got home, had a light meal since I had nothing in the fridge and then went to bed.
I woke up sometime after 4:00 pm pretty much rejuvenated. I still didn't feel like going out, but the thought of sitting down and studying a new technology suddenly didn't seem so appealing. So I decided to attend the Battle of the Bands at Baloo's. Mind you, this event was advertised as an 11 or 12 hour event with some 20 bands performing. By the time I awakened, this event was already well underway.
I should've stuck with my nature and gone to the STMP show at Smiley's. I knew that the fare at Baloo's was going to be of the Alternative genre. Well, the majority of it was anyway. But there was one band that I just had to see. A band called Helleri. Now, these guys aren't Alternative. They're a NuMetal band out of Santa Rosa and their shows have been known to be very energetic. I'd seen them once before at a McAllen venue and the whole event was a snapshot of orchestrated insanity. It ruled! However, that Helleri was a completely different band. But lineup changes haven't done much to diminish their power except maybe change their sound and style a tad.
Anyway, I went to Baloo's with the intention of watching Helleri and only Helleri. The information that I'd gotten stated that they were to go on at 7:oo pm. I got to the venue a little before that, paid the 5 bucks and thought nothing of it. I few moments later, I see one of the guitarists from Helleri (a fellow I'd jammed with in a band before) and go over to engage him in some light chitchat. It's during our brief conversation that I learn that there's been a 2 hour delay and that they wont go on till 9:00 pm. That was a little bit more time than I wanted to invest on this outing. Since I'd already paid the 5 bucks, I decided to stay.
A weekend getting tortured at Guantanamo Bay would've been time better spent. I had to sit through the performances of 4 Alternative bands before Helleri took the stage. Oh my god! The torture. The humanity. The pitiful sounds of Jimi Hendrix wannabe's in 90's grunge outfits with ambitions of being the next College Radio breakout stars. I was not in my element. The crowd at the venue seemed quite happy with the bands. Needless to say, I didn't like the crowd either. They seemed like well to do, bored preppy college kids dressed either as neo beatniks or witty goths emulating Bette Paige. I better stop myself, now.
Helleri gave their usual high energy performance. However, the venue didn't lend itself to the intensity of their sound. The fact that the performance was outdoors and the stage a concrete floor seemed to zap the power out of the punch that the band was trying to deliver. Their timing was impecable, their sound clean and clear and their enthusiam was there, but again, the oomph was lethargic. Not that it's a bad reflection on the band, but rather a poor choice of stage location on the part of the promoters. I would've imagined a better sound quality from the recording studio that organized the event.
posted by Juan at 1:04 AM
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