my crazy weekend

[symbioidlj]

So, Saturday was, as previously mentioned, the droids attack CD release party. Opening was Siv featuring m3at3at3r, Tony's fiance (Tony is droids' drummer), on vocals. The first band was thundersnake.

Emmalee, for some reason I can't get Siv's page to pull up in myspace. I had to use the link off of droids (which is the ass-backwards, convoluted URL... what is the URL supposed to be? I googled, and only found sivmusic as the username, but when I tried that, it wouldn't load)...

Anyways. Thundersnake is... interesting. Imagine a frontman that's part 80s punk, part glam, part Dungeons and Dragons player (OK, maybe the guys I grew up with...), now a drummer who looks like a hipster... in fact, for some reason, I see the drummer as writing a Cartoon Network cartoon. Dunno why... Now, add a lead guitar player who looks like maybe a normal everyday guy with a beard, perhaps like he should be in droids attack... heh... And now a bass player and rhythm guitarist who are STRAIGHT outta 1989 metal/rock. Long flowing hair. The bassist looked more Alice in Chains, and the guitarist more from, say, Ozzy.

They are talented. Not quite my thing. The singer is a strange blend of growling punk and glam screaming. Definitely unique. Good, though.

Siv was almost the opposite. Not in the mix of people (well that, too), but in the number. Instead of 5 people, they have 3. No bass player. A guitarist who does the lead/rhythm and has a 7 string bass along with some sort of pedal to play, ultimately, both parts, bass and guitar. Emmalee (as I said before) sings. She's very good. A combination of growling and whispy singing. At times, not-so-whispy singing as well. Hard to describe. Anyways, they, too, are very awesome, but again, not quite my style.

Droids... Wow... they had the fucking house ROCKING. They all have the beards. Tony normally doesn't, but every once in a while he grows one. The other two members have a beard, so I think maybe it was a whole "CD release/beard" party? Anyways, as vesicular said "Jesus, Tony has stamina" They kept rocking non-stop and he just hits the drums hard. Brad is a great songwriter, and I think Brads songs which are a bit more complex rhythmically than most rock, certainly has helped Tony's playing evolve, since he gets to do more than basic 4/4 rock. I really like Nate Bush... seriously, but don't worry, he hates George W... on the bass. He had a massive Islamic looking beard for the longest time, but it's a bit more manageable now. Apparently the dude is a hardcore drinker on the stage. I saw him afterwards and he was damn near spilling his beer. Yet he can still rock. Nate is a great addition, because the bassists they had before just didn't cut it. I think this is the best lineup for Droids I have seen. That includes Droids' previous incarnation as "Dayzie Head Mayzie" (or however it was spelled).

Anyways, their standard "Ace of Spades" cover, as well as a cover of Sabbath's "Into the Void". The last song ended. Then it didn't... it kept going. And winding down and starting up. A very long (at least 10 minutes, maybe up to 20) extended outro of just jamming and rocking out. There was a mosh pit going.

I felt... pride... in Tony. Knowing that I was growing up jamming with him and being there forming our musical talents together. I never went anywhere, but he has the motivation and skill to kick ass. I don't know how else to put it. He impresses me with his dedication. I asked Ryan (our guildmate who came to the show) what he thought, and he was duly impressed as well. :D

Afterwards, we went to IHOP. We didn't end up leaving there until freaking 4:30 am! I couldn't believe when I got in the car what time it was (I don't have a watch, so I just saw the time on the car clock) Holy Shit! I thought maybe 3:30 at the latest. It's a shame we didn't get a lot of time to spend with Brent (vesicular) but it was still great to see him and I'm glad he could make it.

Yesterday, I slept a hell of a lot to make up for the extended day yesterday. I was excited to kick some ass in WoW with all of us(Emmalee, Brent, Tony and Ryan are all guildies). I went to take a little nap around 6:00, and shortly after that, Rosemary's like "Dave, something's wrong with the TV"... I look. Our TV and Cable internet are down. After trying to call Charter, and getting busy signals, I go lay down. Rose gets ahold of them, and they said they're working on it. I call Tony to let him know I didn't know if I'd be on.

It took until 1:00 am or so (maybe a bit before... 12:30ish?) before the connection was back up and solid. 6 hours of downtime, and I lost a potential run with the guild. I'm guessing they didn't do it, but I don't know. They weren't on when I logged in briefly. At that point I was pretty wiped and not up for doing anything anyways, so I logged off.

Anyways, a crazy weekend. Fun. If you ever have a chance to see Droids, even if you're not really into rock (they're sorta like a stoner rock/metal band, is how i'd describe them... Sabbath/Clutch... something like that). They just throw an awesome show, and the music is so good... damn.

Oh, and the robot. Yeah, they have a dude in a robot suit at most (if not all) their shows. He "mingles" with the crowd. It's pretty cool.

Comments

[vesicular.livejournal.com]

We didn't do a run. I'm not sure if we would have anyway. Evil Dave wasn't really on much and while we could have tried LBRS with me as tank I'm not sure I could last in there. However I did get a new sheild last night and hit 63 so who knows.

I really like the songs with complex rhythems. It's why I like Dope Smuggler so much. The new song they played was really good in that regard. It's obvious that they are really tight. They play a lot of intricate interesting stuff that seems so effortless. Like they're not trying to play it, they just do.

Was there any record label "scouts" at the show that you know of? I saw a guy in back, who did not look like he fit in there at all, by himself, listening to the music. He seemed to really be listening to it too. Perhaps a journalist? I dunno, seemed weird.

The only negative on the show really for me was how fast they started out. A lot of people do this. They're so psyched that they just fly through their set because they have so much adrenaline. I think it's fine to speed up songs, but I felt like they played the first few songs WAY too fast. I want to enjoy the music, not hear it on fast forward.

I never really liked the droid suit either. It gets people involved, but really, they're music is good enough live that they shouldn't need the robot. But that's just me.

I was happy you stayed out late with us. It was good to see you all again. I had a hell of a time.

[claw-machine.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the weekend round-up, Dave! Heh.

No worries -you didn;t miss too much hot Dopplegang action - other than Ryan hitting 70 about five minutes before I logged on, and then Tony and I, ahem, grinded for a bit in Burning Steppes and he got 55.

Also, I found out that I can take out a 57 elite by myself, which I was kind of proud of.

See you online later, maybe! I didn't get my fill earlier, and now I am JONESING to pay after work.

[vesicular.livejournal.com]

I found out that I can take out a 57 elite by myself

OMG NERF WARLOCKS!

j/k