#drater

[firebirdimages]

Drater at Trees in Deep Ellum on Saturday, Sep. 8, 2012

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[firebirdimages]

Neverset reunites at Trees for one night stand

Check out the article for a slideshow from the show

[robtimusalanhintonian]

To all you retards out there that think when I tagged "I would kill her if given the chance" in a past Lady Gaga post.....

I meant I would kill Gaga given the chance. Not the child singing it. I'm glad people are really that retarded that they think I would say I would kill a child considering if you pay any attention to anything I post about my own two children that I would never so much as think of harming a child. I guess the internet is full of people that are all knowing. Keep the hate coming!

[themusicenthusiast]

Thursday, February 2, 2012 – Me Talk Pretty and the Wake Up Tour

I had already planned to be out at Trees this night, because despite not really knowing any of the bands playing, they sounded good. Then, with some last minute line-up changes, a couple of local area acts I either like or have heard of were added to the bill, only giving me more reason to be out there and support. First up was Drater. I’ve heard a lot about these guys recently, and was looking forward to seeing them, but sadly by the time I got there I had missed most of their set. As I walked through the parking lot adjacent to Trees I could hear the song they were doing. “One! Nothing wrong with me. Two! Nothing wrong with me…” before they ripped into the chorus of that iconic Drowning Pool song, “Bodies”, and then got inside for the final minute or so of it. “Come on, I know you can do better than that.” said vocalist, Mira Fountain, when the song was over. Guitarist, Cole Schwartz, said for their final song they were going to do another Metallica cover, before he yelled out, “Seek and Destroy!”, then started the quartet into the song. During it, drummer, Matthew West, left his seat, and made his way to the front of the drum riser, all the while continuing to hit the cymbals. He did this little drum solo of sorts for several seconds, before getting back behind the kit as they brought the song down the home stretch and wrapped up their show. What makes Drater unique isn’t the fact that they are more of a cover band at the moment, it’s the fact that the members are only barely in their teens, with Matthew, Cole, and bassist, Trajan Acquista, all being fourteen, while Mira is but only twelve. I never thought I could be impressed by musicians of that age, but during only that song and a half I caught, I was wowed. Their musicianship is well beyond their years, and they proved to be more entertaining than a lot of bands (including most of the ones on this specific show bill). Doing cover music definitely works for them for now, but one thought quickly came to mind as I watched them, “What will their original music sound like?”. I imagine it will still be awhile before they get to the point to compose their own music, but when they do I’m very intrigued to see how it will sound. So here’s to hoping these four will stick with this band until then. They will be performing at the Boiler Room in Dallas on February 18th, and then the House of Blues on February 19th, so be sure to “Like” their Facebook page to keep tabs on them and find out more info regarding those shows.

Next up was another young band, though not nearly as young as the one who had just played, and the ones I was most looking forward to seeing rock the stage here at Trees, Krash Rover. Singer and guitarist, Kris Newman, got them started with their first song, “She Gets Around”, as bassist, Brandon Goforth, and lead guitarist, Ashton Quincey, began to get more active and bounce back and forth in perfect synch to the music once Zach Fuentes came in on the drums.  It was a great way to start things off, and seemed to me to be a good way to immerse anyone who wasn’t aware of who they were into the Krash Rover experience. After the song Kris gave the band a formal introduction, then stated they were going to play a song that was featured on 97.1 The Eagle’s Loud and Local show the previous Monday night. He started them into the fast paced, “SAS”, and afterwards announced they were going to slow things down a bit as he turned his guitar around to his back. Ashton began lightly playing the guitar as Kris started singing “Nobody Knows”. “The pain that you’ve caused me has cut me so deep, and left so many scars where no eyes can see…”, he crooned as the rhythm section soon entered into the tune. I’d say this is my second favorite KR song, and I like how it begins slow while setting up the story, then just takes off as it goes into more of a poppy rock sound. Also, both Brandon and Ashton added some nice backing vocals to the song, as they aided Kris on the final line of the chorus, “…I’d say that my hearts fixed.” A new song followed, which I believe was titled “Feel Good on the Inside”, and it was amazing. It stands out as being the strongest rock they have, and in some ways it even feels and sounds like an homage to the classic rock era. “This one seems to be a fan favorite…” said Kris, which led them to “Russian Roulette (Part II)”. They had saved the best for last, as their fans knew what the final song of their 32 minute long set had to be. Zach kicked it off with some beats, as those who knew the song began to repeatedly chant, “TEXAS!”, before they launched into “I'm From Texas”. Towards the end of it the band handed things off to Zach, who did a sweet little drum solo, before they rejoined and brought it to a close. It was a great set they did, I just wish they had been able to play longer. It is also well worth noting that in the little over two months since Brandon did his first live show with the band, they have only gotten much tighter together. He was great when I saw them back in November, but tonight his performance was even better, and you could really feel the chemistry between all of them. Hands down, Krash Rover was the best band of this show… And I wish I could say I was being biased about that, because most of the remaining bands were a total letdown. Also, if you’d like to see Krash Rover, they have a few shows coming up throughout the metroplex. On February 25th they’ll be at the Aardvark in Fort Worth. March 17th will find them rocking The Ranch in Arlington, while on March 31st you can see them up in Denton at Hailey’s. Next, all the way from Provo, Utah, was The Young Electric. The song they opened with seemed pretty simplistic, but I thought it might get better… It did not. They rolled it right into their second song, and then that one into their third, and at the start of it bassist, Drew Hamnett, moved further over to stage left, out of my line of sight, then came rolling right to the center of the stage. Riley Hamnett’s voice hadn’t sounded good since they started, but it during that song it just fell flat on its ass and never really recovered. They played a few other songs which included “Chemical” and “Hospital”, while “Veins” concluded their very short 23 minute show.

The member who gave the best performance was easily Mat Deason, who shredded on his guitar, but aside from him… Well, I haven’t given away a “worst band of the night” award in any of my posts in quite some time, but these guys are well deserving of one. The show was just atrocious. Riley couldn’t sing, he appeared as if he was drunk or high, which is not an appealing look on stage, and his “move” was slinging the microphone around. Now, I do think it’s cool when a singer will do that, sling it in the air and then catch it, but he did it constantly throughout the show which totally ruins the appeal of it, and then you had his stunt of holding the mic upside down while singing into it. It was just a pathetic display all the way around, especially after seeing what  Krash Rover had done. As for their music, I viewed it as the cookie-cutter crap that gives all music a bad name. The only good thing about them was how little time they took up. Easily the most well known band of the tour, Hawthorne Heights was next. I’ve heard of the band, but have never heard one of their songs, so I didn’t really know what to expect. On one hand they had the strongest showing of any band this night which should mean they’re good, but then my taste in music tends to differ from that of the masses, so I wasn’t sure. My doubt quickly washed away though as they began their 34 minute long set with “This is Who We Are”. I found the chorus infectious and was instantly hooked, and vocalist and guitarist, JT Woodruff, lead guitarist, Micah Carli, and bassist, Matt Ridenour, were putting on a hell of a performance. They kept up the intensity with “Pens and Needles”, which finds Micah doing a good bit of screaming. If you are new to my blogs, I loathe screaming in music, and in listening to the bands stuff online, I don’t like some of the recordings because of it. The funny thing is, though, that live it was incredible and added a wonderful texture to the music. They followed it with another older tune, “Blue Burns Orange”, before JT announced they were going to play some new songs that had never been played live in Dallas. The material came from their latest record, the “Hate” EP, with the first song they did being “Stay Awake/Stay Alive”. Okay, at this point I had liked their older stuff, but these new songs blew all of that out of the water, and it proceeded to get better. “I hate my job and I hate my life. I hate every fucking thing in this world. I swear to God if I had a knife I’d cut my heart out and give it to her…” sang JT as they began the title track, “Hate”, which perfectly achieves a feeling of utter hatred. “Saying Sorry” came next, and then another new one, “Oceans”, before they started what appeared to be a fan favorite, and one I really liked as well, “Ohio is for Lovers”. While “Niki FM” brought the show to a close.

I know I praised Krash Rover earlier, but Hawthorne Heights came awfully close beating them out. I guess in some ways they even did, because I love that feeling of when you first see a band, having no idea what to expect from them, and then you are totally blown away. That was what Hawthorne Heights did to me. I may have neglected to buy their records at the show, but only because I wanted to give a listen to the recorded versions of the songs to see if I still liked them. So, at the very least I would highly suggest the “Hate” EP. The band has dates up thru February 13th, so check out their TOUR PAGE to see if they are coming near you. Me Talk Pretty was headlining and closed out the show. The instrumentalists began with a percussion piece, as drummer, Guerin Blask, rocked his full kit, while guitarist, Leon Lyazidi , and bassist, Kevin Coffrin, each beat on a tom. It went on for a couple of minutes before front woman, Uliana Preotu, bounded on stage with some spunky energy as they began their first song. “We are Me Talk Pretty all the way from New York City!” exclaimed Uliana after the song, as Guerin wound it into their next one, “Hello Hello”. Sure, they were only two songs in, but I was none too impressed. The whole thing was just lacking that one element that grabs you and makes you captivated. They kept rolling right along as Kevin played some bass notes solo as Uliana softly sang a few lines of “Survive” before the song roared to life. This was one of only a few songs where I would say her voice actually shined. That’s not to say it was necessarily bad, more just that this was only one of the songs where I heard what was maybe some slight touch of star quality, as she really knocked that one out of the park. They followed it with another tune from their “We Are Strangers” record, “Love is in the Air”, and then “Close Your Eyes”, during which they left Guerin on stage alone to rock out a drum solo. Another song came next, and then Leon removed his guitar and handed it off to Kevin, who took his spot on stage right. Leon then pulled a piano to where it was more visible on stage, and as he did so Uliana talked somewhat of the bands history. “How many of you are wondering why this girl all of a sudden has an accent?” she asked, as it was noticeable when she spoke plainly, but completely disappeared as she sang. The story she told was being in her home country of Romania some six years ago, watching MTV thinking she would like to be in a band, and then her mother decided to move to America, so Uliana could have a chance at a better life. “…But my mother is no longer with us…” she said. She told a heartbreaking story of her mother not having health insurance, and subsequently could not get treatment when she got sick, which eventually led to hear death. She spoke of wanting to make a difference, “…Because I don’t think people should die just because they can’t afford insurance.”, and then pointed to the piano, which had hand prints all over it. They had been getting one person in each city to leave their mark on the piano, with the goal being to auction it off once their tour ends. It was a very neat thing, and it led them into a slowed down version of “Say You Will”. They returned to the electric goodness with another song, and ended with their single, which Uliana said would “…Always and forever be dedicated to my mother.”, “Wake Up”, which capped off their 51 minute set.

I just never felt engaged by their performance; it was like it just never really spoke to me. I don’t know. I just never saw any sign of standout talent, but regardless, you could tell the four of them were giving it their all on stage, and they at least deserve props for that. They’ll be on tour thru February 13th, so check out their TOUR PAGE to see where they’ll be. Still, the show at least had more better moments than it didn’t, and was a good way to start my two night stand at the Trees.

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NOTE: To hear music from these and many other independent artists from Texas, the U.S., and even the world, listen to me weekly "The Music Enthusiast Podcast", which is part of the WhiskeyBoy Radio Network. If you are in a band and would like me to play your music on the show (assuming I don't already have it), or perhaps you want an outlet to debut new material, email me at: [email protected]

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A note to whom it may interest: I'm wanting to get advertisers on my blog. If you are a band, music venue, or have any type of product or business whatsoever you want to promote, e-mail me at: [email protected] for full info. I will tell you now though, I get good traffic on my site and my prices will be VERY, VERY affordable to even the most broke bands/people. So please, allow me to help promote YOUR product constantly, and not just when I do a show review. Venues, I can list all your upcoming shows as I do for the Granada Theater. Bands, I can put up an image of your album cover and link that to iTunes, etc. Let me know if you would be interested in getting in on this exciting opportunity!