January 8, 2011 - The New, New Magnetic North
I'd seen my first show of the new year a few nights ago, but tonight was my first club show of 2011. And what better club to catch some rock bands than the Curtain Club. Right?
There was one final band for the night. For Every Day. But I'd seen them before, and the rock they play is more along the lines of the rock that is everything wrong with the music industry as it currently is. You know, like Nickelback. So we didn't stick around for them, and left right after NMN finished up.
The first band, Krash Rover, was already performing as we waiting to pay to get in. But I don't believe we'd missed much of their set, as we saw at least 20 minutes of it. They sounded great, especially all being younger guys, each one looking around 18 to 19 years old. The downside to them was that they were 18 to 19 years old. Their music had a rock / pop / punk sound to it, definitely nothing new, but they excelled at it. And I really did enjoy it. But their songs, lyrically, did showcase their age, most of them sounding to be about teenage angst, and even if they weren't they didn't come across as being very complex. They do have something going though. So I say just give them time, let them mature and grow as musicians, and these guys should have a great spot in the local music community. And maybe even beyond.
Second up was Big Slang. A group of, umm... Seasoned musicians. I'm not the best at estimating age, but I think it ranged from the mid-forty's to around early sixties. Yeah, not your typical idea of a band you're going to see playing a club like this. Some of the stuff, their first song for instance, had a little 80's vibe going on. I've heard only clips of songs by Flock of Seagulls, but that's the band they reminded me of at first. And I'm not sure if they were primarily a cover band or what. Cause they covered a Beatles song, as well as Pink Floyd. And they even did an instrumental track titled "Debauchery". They were a different act, especially since the band name sounded like it belonged to a heavy metal band, or possible even a hip-hop artist. They weren't bad, but I'd certainly never go to show with the sole intention of seeing them.
Chris Osborne and his band were up next. From listening to them online they sounded excellent, and I figured would be the second best band of the night. But just as some bands can sound crappy on their recordings and be great live, so too can it work the opposite way. And that was how it was with these guys. The first few songs I really liked, just modern rock, but Chris had a killer voice that helped the music along. But before long all the songs started sounding more or less the same. And by the time they finally said they had two songs left, I was glad. But I would've been more glad had they cut those two songs out all together and just finished up much sooner.
Finally, it was time for the New Magnetic North. It'd had been a long 15 months since they'd graced the stage of the Curtain Club last. Or any club for that matter. And in that 15 months they'd undergone some huge changes. Most notably (and obviously) was the expansion from a four piece band to a five piece, with the addition of Bryan Ziegler on guitar. And secondly, Jacob Aaron, who was the drummer for their first three shows in 2009, has left his drum kit to rock out on a guitar. So really, this was set up to be an entirely new band. At 11:59 their intro track began. The song "Sycamore Trees" from the film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. It was an interesting opener, and set an intriguing mood for their set. It played for a minute or two before the curtain opened on NMN, who were greeted with quite a bit of applause. They allowed for a brief pause, as if to let the intro to sink in, then Jacob let loose on their first song, "The Owls Are Not What They Seem". I'm sure I've heard this song, and most of the others before, but it'd been so long ago I had no clue whatsoever as to what I should expect. And I was bit surprised when Tim began screaming out the first verse. I'll admit, it was a little intense for me at first, but the chorus was sung, so it worked pretty good. But really, that's one thing I've always liked about Tim's voice, he can be screaming in a Hardcore Rock fashion one second, and the next he's singing in a semi high register. As the song wound down Tim walked over to the drum riser, where a couple of toms where set up beside the drummers kit. And while the band was rocking out the last bit of "Owls...", Tim joined in on the percussion, hitting away the toms. That was a pretty great way to get the show going, as the song is a definite attention grabber, but the show only got better from here. They rocked out "Which Some Can Say", "Perfect Piece of Truth", "Feed the Pig", and "Eleven", which used to be the show closer, next. And after each one I thought "That's my favorite song of theirs." Ultimately making it a tough decision, and I guess, for now, I like those four songs equally. Their 36 minute long set was nearing it's end now, as they played "Minus the Fall" before concluding with "View of the Seconds". Wow! What transpired in those 36 minutes was pretty incredible. First off, while Jacob was a good drummer, he is by far a better guitarist. And I'd say he exuded the most presence of anyone in the band. Whether it was just him shredding, or in the final song when he ran to the center of the stage, somewhat colliding with Bob, he was pretty badass. And the backing vocals he provided helped out the songs quite a bit, and I really liked it on either "...Truth" or "Feed the Pig" (I think it's one of those, though I can't remember for sure now) where he and Tim almost co-sang for parts of it, and even harmonized a little. And speaking of Bob, he seemed to put forth more energy than what I remember him doing in the past. As for Bryan, well the second guitar adds to the complexity of some already complex music. And it's good seeing him perform again, since it's been a couple of years when Darby did their final show. And tonight, he kinda reminded me of The FEDS guitarist Matt Wright. He didn't do anything real flashy or attention grabbing to look badass, just stood there and played his part. And in that he succeeded at being the most badass person on stage. And in regards to their songs, they sound different than anything I've personally ever heard. And they tend to keep the listener guessing. The best song example would be "View of Seconds". Just a few minutes into it started tapering off, and I really thought the song might be coming to an end, before they ramped it back up. And at another point of the song the guitars and drums pretty much dropped out, allowing Bob to do a little bass solo. It's nice to hear music like that, that keeps you on your toes. Because, and this may be because I listen to a lot of music, but it seems that if you figure the drum pattern out you can predict an entire song, even if you've never heard it before. But not these songs. While the New Magnetic North debuted back in May of '09 and played three shows that year, if you ask me, this was their first REAL New Magnetic North show. As it blew the others totally out of the water. They're currently working on a debut full-length record due out sometime this year, which based on this show, it should be pretty killer. So check 'em out and be sure to keep tabs on them, as this band is only going to get better. And on a final note, I want to give a HUGE thank you to Tim, who made me my own little set list so I'd know the names of these songs. So, thank you good sir! You're freakin' awesome!