JunkFest Day 1: Quiz CD Release Show, Hillstomp, and the Metal Shakespeare Company on Friday, June 4th at the Sunset Junction
Quiz is so relaxed when he is on stage, it appears as he is on a mission and is there to accomplish it; mission being to BE hip-hop. I was blown by how Quiz can take a large vocabulary, then mix the words like a perfect drink with beats that all create a mind stimulating hip-hop song. I love that Quiz creates his own beats for his music in his sisters’ basement. It takes talent and an ear to find the right beat that compliments your expressions in words. It was cool to see such a big crowd there to support Quiz too, they even asked for an encore which by the way he freestyled… so badass. I love it; it is such an art to rap. Tonight was Quiz’s album release show as well, and he even has some pretty cool t-shirts! If you have not seen or heard of Quiz I ask that you check him out here.
Hillstomp thanked PK for letting them play with Quiz because they have never had the opportunity to play with hip hop artists. I loved that; PK always takes different genres and mixes them and that’s how it should be – so you can experience all sorts of music not just on genre. Odd mix but worked. As soon as I saw that the drum set included plastic buckets I knew we were in for a wild time from Hillstomp. Not only did the drum set included plastic buckets but almost everything had duct tape on it. Hillstomp is a two piece out of Portland that uses everyday objects including a washboard and silverware to create fast, ass shaking, feet stomping, good time music. It’s like punk bluegrass, I wish I had my cowboy boots on to giddy up around the dance floor with the rest of the kids. Oh yeah they played on the floor too so they had the crowd hovering over them like dancing vultures. They opened up with Banjo Song #1 then a string broke (sad) so they rocked the guitar for the other songs. It was a cool set, I will dance to them any night of the year.
I carried around my purple Metal Shakespeare sword all night and was so excited to be able to raise it in their name. These kids are complete metal badasses, they can shred like nobodies business, have loud and clear vocals and put on one hell of a set. They asked the crowd how many bands they had seen today, at the festival of hunting… (ElkFest). I love how they stay in character all while being this high energy killer metal band…yet wear tights. Or as their myspace reads Sounds Like: Shakespeare Turning In His Grave. On top of kids singing into the microphones with them, falling over due to many spilt drinks, air guitaring, and a lot of male pole dancing their set would of have any one blown away. We got to hear songs like “Romeo & Juliet III.i,” “Coriolanus,” “Run to the Hills” and even a tribute to Dio, RIP. They ended their set with “We are the Dagger of the Mind” and we love Bardcore!
Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.
