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0 IWrestledABearOnce, Eyes Set To Kill, & Chelsea Grin

10/12/10
Andrea
· live music reviews · the seaside

IWrestledABearOnce, Eyes Set To Kill, Chelsea Grin on Monday, October 11^th at the Seaside

Well I kind of missed out big on this one. I had to work all day and rushing to get my work done at 9:30pm I hustled my ass over to the Seaside found ROCKSTAR parking somehow, paid my $15 and caught two bands. I know lame, I missed the other four bands one of them including a local favorite FAUS.

I was not expecting the crowd that was at the Seaside. It was the fullest I have ever, ever, ever seen the space, especially on the all ages sides. Kids were packed in their like sardines. I heard that some of the bands that played earlier were jumping into the crowd and even stood up on the crowds hand…Crazy for such a small venue. Oh and the barricade in between the bar and all ages fucking broke. It took one of the crew’s strongest guys to hold it up for the rest of the night with all of his weight. Intense and I love it.

Granted I was exhausted from working a 13 hour day and I felt like crap I had a great time. I was so excited to talk to kids who love this music and who love IWABO (IWrestledABearOnce). Obliviously Spokane has a huge metal scene and I need to dip my feet in it a little bit more. Matt managed to get done working a bit earlier then me, so he caught the tail end of Chelsea Grin, who by looks of some of his photos tore it up. I think it would be fair to say that every band tore it up tonight.

One thing that I noticed with IWABO and Eyes Set to Kill, is that there are chic’s in the band and singing! I love that, when I was like 12 or so, there weren’t very many girls in metal bands so I love that it is becoming more and more popular with bands. Plus how is it not bad ass to see girls scream better then some guys? I only caught a few tunes from Eyes Set to Kill but what I heard was pretty badass, oh and loud. Yeah I wish I had earplugs it was so FUCKING loud, but then again it is a metal show.

IWABO on their Ghostbustour, came out with a whole lotta fog and a quick snippet of the Ghostbuster’s theme song. From there on out it was a lot of screaming, singing, and some crazy ass breakdowns. We got to hear “Danger in the Manger,” “The Cat’s Pajama’s,” “See You in Shell,” “Eli Cash vs. The Godless Savages,” “Pazuzu For the Win,” and many more! It was just intense and so cool to hear Krysta sing and then be able to scream and then to say Thanks in between songs and sound like the girl next door. It was cool to see kids so excited about a show, and to see the size of crowd out on a Monday (school night). I hope we can catch more of the bands this summer or who knows maybe on Warped next year. Until then, I am going to try and wrestle a bear.

Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.

0 !OUTERNATIONAL! and GBH

07/03/10
Andrea
· live music reviews · the seaside

!OUTERNATIONAL! and GBH at the Seaside on Friday, June 2^nd

Thank you Tyler for making a Myspace request for an earlier all ages show because if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t of gotten to see these two great bands. You ROCK!

!OUTERNATIONAL! shook up the place before GBH took the stage and got our attention like fireworks on the 4^th of July… I was blown away by them! I don’t even know how to classify them into a genre; it is like punk, ska, politics, worldbeat, dance, rock, and a little adventure on top. In other words you couldn’t stand still during the set and ever song is something refreshing to your ears. They have a point and a view to tell you over some fast spunky tunes. !OUTERNATIONAL! had clear harmonies, instruments ranging from drums, harmonium, trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and a little elbow grease it was a musical explosion that brought the heat up on our cool summer night. Towards the end Ross from GBH who is a badass bass player also managed to rock a dainty ukulele with !OUTNATIONAL! They went out with a bang and ended their set with “Fighting Song.” Their set was perfect, it sounded so good and the trumpet solo knocked my socks off. !OUTERNATIONAL! is a must see live band! Check them out on myspace and pick up their album “Eyes on Fire” it is in my car right now and I have a feeling it won’t be coming out for a while.

I love how the GBH Myspace says “30 Years and Counting!” Punk rock music must keep you young because this is the second “older” British punk band that I have seen lately where they have more energy than the kids in the crowd. GBH must have a love for what they do because they still kill it 30 years into their career. All the way from Birmingham in Spokane the kids in the front row were there to sing every word and to circle pit. It was electric to see, I know that may sound cheesy, but it was so cool to see kids get that excited to see a band. GBH managed to squeeze in new with the old (maybe after a deal or two) but they played “Kids Get Down,” “I am the Hunted,” “Diplomatic Immunity,” “Give Me Fire,” “Perfume and Piss,” plus many others. Since kids were singing along and yelling out what song to play next when it was time for them to play more Colin gave us three options “Big Women,” “Generals,” and “No Survivors.” He played No Survivors and since only one kid raised his hand for “Generals” they ended their set with the popular vote of “Big Women!” For the size of the crowd the kids kept a pretty good circle pit going and running to Colin as soon as the chorus came so they could scream it into the mic. For about two seconds a kid even managed to get up on stage. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN to be at a punk rock show on a Friday night. Not to mention to see such a band with so much punk history. I would do it again any night of the week.

Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.

1 Mark Ward CD Release Show

05/15/10
Andrea
· live music reviews · the seaside

Mark Ward CD Release Show at the Seaside on Friday, May 14^th

It has been a long, long, long, time since we have seen Mark Ward play; so needless to say we were excited! Since it was the early show everyone was on the left side of the Seaside drinking their beers and mixed drinks. Mark asked us to finish up and head over to the right. It took a song or two for everyone to guzzle down the liquids but by Mark’s third song everyone was dancing and the spring dresses were twirling!

Mark Ward sounds wonderful alone but to have all of the instruments that you get with his full band is so cool! There were acoustic guitars, electric guitars, a banjo, ukulele, glockenspiel, whistling, drums, backup vocals, and clapping! It sounded full, on key, and was impossible not to move your feet to! The four piece including Joel Smith, Dan Spalding, Bryan Coats and of course Mark Ward. The night also included some “Slow and Sensitive” gems along with all of the fun fast songs!

Mark had his new CD “Through the Dark” for sale for $10 (since it is a CD Release show) and he even said he would throw in a copy of his 1^st EP. Which he released in the 60’s with Jefferson Airplane. We giggled when you said that Mark, but I don’t think a lot of the room caught on. Mark Ward took the time to say thank you to everyone that showed up; friends, family, acquaintances. He also said that we would all be getting a Christmas Card. We are holding you to that Mark! Mark then went to say the titled track “Through the Dark” was going to be his last song. After the song was over, the crowd wasn’t over Mark; everyone started chanting one more, one more, one more!

Mark appeared back on stage and said that he normally likes to end sets on an “eh” note. Therefore he played a soft solo mellow tune and ended his CD Release show. The crowd still wanted more so Mark yelled “you can buy my CD and listen to my songs all of the time!” So Matt picked up a copy and we are listening to it right now. Thanks Mark, it was a perfect evening!

Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.