#the commotion

[theblackestofsuns]

“The Commotion”

Doctor Strange #48 (August 1981)

Roger Stern, Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin and Bob Sharen

Marvel Comics

[thedaintydoe]

jace: ...!

jace: m-mr. rupert... look there...

edgar: ...

[satanslifecoach]

the next race weekend feels like a billion light years away when it’s only 11 days left to Bahrain. This, after surviving the winter break can only mean truest love and purest addiction. 

[7eventytwo]

At 7eventytwo's Holiday Rock Festivus on December 18th The Commotion (a three piece grunge and garage rock outfit) played for the first time. The Commotion consists of frontman and guitarist, Dylan Samuel, bassist, Teo Hedigan, and drummer, Julian Kaufman. The combination of Samuel's lazy vocals and rhythm guitar add to their lo-fi grime. Hedigan delivers a relaxed performance while laying down a strong low frequency foundation. With his wild stage performance and heavy handed drumming Kaufman provides a thumping backbone for the trio. Kaufman is able to bring a passion to drumming that is hard to find. We enjoyed their set very much and look forward to seeing them at our space in the near future.

Photos were shot on an Olympus Stylus Epic with the Film Photography Project's 35mm RetroChrome 160 color slide film. Developed with E6 processing.

[indierocktv]

What you said... by The Commotion What you said...

[themusicenthusiast]

Friday, March 22nd, 2013 – Little Sisters of the Poor

[themusicenthusiast]

Friday, August 24th, 2012 – Nothing More

The American Tragedy, a band from Louisiana, was next. I had seen them some time ago at a show in Dallas, like, two years or so ago, and remembered them being good, but aside from that my memory was incredible vague. They got their 40ish minute set going with an older song, and this four-piece group sprung to life, giving the impression that this was going to be a pretty great show. They followed it up with a tune from their new EP, “Blood On the Stage”, a high-energy song that had me thinking maybe there would be some blood on the stage, ‘cause at the pace they were moving around, accidents could happen. It has a catchy bridge, where the instruments are scaled back a bit, as singer and rhythm guitarist, Adam, sings, “Forgive me Jesus, for I have sinned. I’m listening to Rock ‘N’ Roll records again. I like my Sabbath black and my lizzy thin…”. Upon finishing it, Adam told everyone they could go buy “The Flame” in iTunes, and that the next song, which was “Everyone Will Finish”, was off it as well. Drummer, Trey started them into it, while the guitars and bass soon roared to life. The song has a real sense of urgency to it, and packs quite a punch. They then got into some older stuff, and I might not have know it, but they powered through each song, showing that they were merely warming up, because they just got better and better. Ryan tore it up on the bass, while both Jackie and Adam shredded on their axes, all getting very into the performance. Towards the end of their set they brought things down a bit with the title track of their latest release, “The Flame”, which still has a nice rock sound to it. Damn, these guys were much better than I remembered. They know how to write some killer songs that will have no problem engaging you, the listener, as they have quite the knack for penning hard hitting and catchy songs. And when combined with a stellar live show, it makes for a live show that will definitely stick with you. The band has a few albums for sale, and you can find all of them HERE. Also, be sure to keep tabs on their FACEBOOK PAGE for show updates. Speaking of which, they really need to get to the Dallas area more often. Closing out the night were guys from San Antonio who are collectively known as Nothing More. They got all their stuff set up, and a little after 12:30, they were ready to roll. After some killer rock music to get everyone’s adrenaline flowing, they tore into the first song of the night, “Gone”. I’m enjoying that song again being used as the opener, and after vocalist, Jonny Hawkins, banged out some beats on his small drum set before lead guitarist, Mark Vollelunga, tore off into the instrumental, “Under The Eyes of Selene”, which soon bled into “Sixty Second Affair”. “It’s been awhile, Denton.” Jonny remarked, saying they were going to do a few new songs. It might have also been at this point that he said their brand new record is getting closer to being done, and thanked everyone for bearing with them in this long process, but also pointing out that it should be well worth the wait. And with these morsels that they did and have been playing for a while now, I have no doubt it will be well worth the wait. “First Punch” was one of those songs, and you know you have a killer song and dedicated fans, who were already singing along to the chorus, “…I’ll throw the first punch, ‘cause I kept my mouth shut for far too long…”. Another heavy new one followed, during which Jonny knocked the chorus, “…Until you realize, you’re not Jesus Christ…”, out of the park. Their show only got more exciting afterwards when Daniel Oliver removed his bass, making it pretty clear what was coming next. Jonny picked up the rod that fits into the metal case that surrounds his drum kit, with Dan placing his bass into the slot of said rod. While he stood on stage right of it, holding down the strings, Jonny played it by hitting various strings with a pair of drumsticks. It livened up further when Mark finished riffing on his guitar, then walked over to his band mates and held down some strings on the neck, while drummer, Paul O’Brien, kept the beats going on the drums. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, seeing that never gets old. They got back down to business with another new(er) tune, then slowed things down a bit with “It Seems…”, which I’m very glad has found its way into regular rotation, and the addition of the chorus from The Beatles song, “Eleanor Rigby”, after the second chorus in their song really sets it off, being the piece de resistance. “Where going to do something different.” Jonny said when it was over, and I think had a lot of people wondering if “different” was going to be good or not. “I had a way then, losing it all on my own. I had a heart then, but the queen has been overthrown…” he began, revealing the song to be a very unexpected rendition of the Ellie Goulding song, “ Lights”. If you didn’t already know the song to some degree, you certainly wouldn’t have this night. It was very much a rock song, and louder and heavier than the original is, which made it all their own. It was very good in a weird way, but then again, I recall some shows a few years back where they covered “I Kissed a Girl”, so I guess taking a pop song sung by a female artist and then tweaking it to fit their style of music is nothing new. Fans didn’t have to long to recover from that, as the sample track for “Ballast” soon fired up. It’s another heavy hitter, and you could tell just how in tune these guys are with one another. Jonny was overlooking the crowd before the second verse, but began singing it at the precise moment Paul started back in on the drums, and it’s that tightness and key precision that will keep you coming back to see this band. For anyone who might remember, the band used to cover a song by the local Dallas outfit, SouthFM (which was fronted by Paco Estrada), but it has been some time since I’ve heard them do “Vesica Piscis”. They switched things up again, though, not doing that song per say, but rather the prelude to it. Dan got on a keyboard, which had a deeper sound, more like an organ, and they did something to change the tone of Jonnys’ voice, while the guitar and drums were barely played. “I, I left you to sway. It’s a shame we had to go this far, it’s a shame we had to go at all…” Jonny sang, getting the short minute and a half long song underway. As it approached the end, the guitar notes grew louder, and as Dan laid off the keys, Mark and Paul tore into their original, “Bullets And Blue Eyes”. It was fantastic getting to hear that one again, seeing as it was absent the last couple of shows of theirs I saw, and the same can be said for “Love?”, which followed it. Jonny said a few things to the crowd, then said he was going to give the mic to Dan, who he thought had something to say. He really didn’t at that time, though hinted at the next song. He was messing with his bass, and when he was done, he started with his introduction to “Fat Kid”, “Four score and seven meals ago…”, which ends with something like, “… I had a dream where beef is always what’s for dinner.” They breezed through the shorter song and had everyone singing along loudly to it, and that brought them to the final song of their 62 minute long set and another fan favorite, “Salem”. Their antics continued at the tail end of the tune, for the all percussion solo, which requires Dan holding a tom on each shoulder, while Jonny and Mark made continuous little circles, one beating on the toms, the other Jonnys’ drum kit, and vice versa. They then got some audience participation, on the final chorus, having the crowd shout along to, “BURN THE WITCH! HAHAHA!”

I think this was the best performance I’ve seen them do since the last time they played Andy’s a few months back. It was a high-energy, rip-roaring performance, and the little surprises they had to switch it up only made it more enjoyable. These guys never disappoint, but they were certainly on the top of their game this night.

They have only a couple shows booked at the moment, one will be September 21st at the Scout Bar in Houston, TX. The other is set for October 12th at Fitzgerald’s in San Antonio. And don’t forget, you can check out their album, “The Few Not Fleeting”, while you await the release of their next record.

It was a fantastic night, and hanging out with great people only made it better.

[themusicenthusiast]

Sunday, March 11, 2012 – An Escaping the Ordinary Showcase

NX35, 35 Conferette and now 35 Denton Festival. And those are only the names I remember the festival has gone by since I became aware of it. If I remember the story correctly it began as a little showcase of North Texas bands down in Austin during SXSW, but moved up to Denton a few years ago (2010 I believe). I love the concept of it, which basically turns Denton into a smaller scale SXSW with bands playing at every venue in the town along with an outdoor stage which hosts the bigger name talent (Built to Spill was one of the main attractions for this year). The only bad thing about it is Denton is about a an hour trip for me, or two hours round-trip. So with the wristband to get full access to all four days of the festival costing a pretty penny, there’s no way I’ve ever been able to justify purchasing it and then driving up there and back for three to four consecutive nights, despite knowing it would be a ton of fun. Because of that, I’ve only been to the festival one night before, two years ago when my favorite band currently in the D-FW music scene, Trebuchet, played the Boiler Room. Tonight they were once again performing during the festival and at the same venue no less, though it now goes by the name, The Abbey Underground.

I anticipated parking to be a major issue, and it was, as my dad and I pulled into the square about 7:30, and after missing a couple spots right in the square, we had to settle with a parking in front of a house on Sycamore Street.

Time was killed by grabbing a bite to eat at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, before going to the Abbey where Escaping the Ordinary was putting on their showcase show.

Up first was The Commotion, who had some technical difficulties before beginning. They have their own light system they use too, and their drummer couldn’t get it to work right off the bat, which prompted singer and guitarist, Micah Creel, to go back there and fiddle with the computer. It took a couple of minutes, but he eventually got it in working order and returned to center stage. Soon they got the show going, as Micah sang the first line of “Carry On”, “I need another perspective, ‘cause this one’s trying to cage my mind…”, with the rest of the band somewhat backing him up before really coming in as it neared the chorus. They wound that song right into “Crim”, a song that really lets guitarists, Josh Sanders and Justin Middleton, and bassist, Justin Hold, cut loose on the chorus, though the stage here seemed a bit more cramped than the ones they usually play on, which restricted their movements to some degree. Now, the band sticks to a pretty routine set list, and so far all seemed normal, but it had been a little while since I’d seen The Commotion, and in that time span they’ve evidently worked in some new songs, because one that was totally foreign to me came next. I was in awe by it, as it blew their older stuff out of the water, which is saying a lot. It just seemed a little more intense, and I loved it. They next did “Killin’ Time” and followed it with another new one, which was equally as good as the one minutes earlier. The ran through “Just a Test” and as it ended the backing track kicked in to their final song and blended it perfectly into “Back Seat Driver (Wash it Away)”.

In all it was a 35 minute set they did, and a great one at that, but sadly not many people were there to witness it. The crowd did grow as they got their gear off stage while the next band set up, but it still wasn’t what I had imagined it would be. I guess after hearing the stories of several of the venues being at capacity on Friday and Saturday nights I figured it would be the same way here for this epic line-up of bands. That’s not to say it was a bad turn out by any means, though.

Ty Griffin, the founder of Escaping the Ordinary, had introduced The Commotion, and did the same for the next rock outfit, asking everyone to get up front for a band that had made the trek here from Austin, Magnet School. The four-piece didn’t waste much time in starting their 37 minute set, and opened with “Fur and Velvet”. The song is definitely engaging and immerses you in the full on rock the band brings, plus the outro to the song which heavily features the rhythm section, bassist, Brandon Tucker, and Dave Hobizal on drums, is nothing short of spectacular. Guitarist, Michael Wane, sang the first line or so of their next song, “The Double Agent”, before stage left guitarist, Mark Ford, picked up where he left off and sang lead on the remainder of the song, and afterwards they tore things up with the instrumental, “Swan Dive”. Michael commented briefly on the next song, their current single, before mentioning that it was on a split record they released with the Dead Twins. He then proceeded to play the opening line of my favorite song of theirs, “The Sitch”. “Do y’all want to hear a new song?...” asked Mark, who added that they played it maybe only once before. It was pretty killer, and out of all these songs they did that have yet to be recorded and released, this may well be my favorite. It was at this point that Mark encountered some problems, as he had evidently tuned with his capo still on his guitar, which had gotten it totally out of tune, and he spent several minutes fixing it, joking, “…Everyone blame me for fucking the show up…” It did derail things a bit, and when they said they had three songs left the sound guy informed them that there was only time for two. They decided to ax the one they have “been playing forever” which was “XX”. It was a bit of a shame, as it’s another one I enjoy, and too little too late the sound guy told them they could go ahead and do all three. But by that point Michael had already changed guitars and they were ready to rock out “Little White Lie”. They wrapped things with a cover song, as Michael said, “This is some nineties bullshit rock for ya…” as they began a cover of “Rave Down” by Swervedriver.

Pick up the bands album, "Tonight!" and their single, "The Sitch" through their Bandcamp page.

Like I’ve said before, I haven’t seen these guys much, but I become more of a fan with each show I catch, and tonight they rocked it. It was almost hard to think that the night could get any better after Magnet School, but it could, and it did.

The Dallas trio, Here Holy Spain, took the stage next, doing what would be their final North Texas show for a few months. The scheduled start times for the bands had gotten slightly off, but the good thing with HHS as they usually blaze right through their songs, and sure enough, they did just that, by first ripping into “Can't Control”. Scott Brayfield patched the end of it into their next song, one of their new ones, “Out West”. I’ve liked that song a lot since hearing them debut it, but I think tonight it sounded even better than the other times I’ve heard it. They blended it into the next song, too, though this time singer and guitarist, Wes Todd, got a little feedback going before playing the opening guitar line of “No Love”, and afterwards Scott whipped that into “Waiting, Wearing Your Skin”. That was a hell of a lot of rock they packed into just a little over ten minutes, and finally took a brief break. It didn’t last too long, though, as Wes soon launched them into “Sick Again”. When it was done, bassist, Erica Guagliardi, did some riffing to pass the time as Wes messed with his guitar. After a few moments he told his band mates that they were going to cut the next song (“New Bones to Break”) and he began speaking of the bands current goings on, writing for a new record. “…We don’t know what the title is… or any of the other things you should know when making an album.” said Wes, as they did another excellent song that will be on it, “Golden Gun”. This was the second time I remember hearing this one, and it sounded much more killer than what I recalled. I know there’s probably still a lot of new material they have yet to perform, but I thus far this one stands out to me as being one of the best. They rounded it into the next song, the title track from their debut album, “Manic” , and then it was time to put an end to their 28 minute set. “This next one is called Way Out One and Five…” Wes said, adding that the song was about working a job that you hate, and, if I remember correctly, one that you want to go into and “…Blow the building up…”.

They rocked it, and performed for one of, if not the, biggest crowd of the night. As I mentioned, this was the bands last area show for quite some time, as Wes in the tour manager for the Toadies who will soon be hitting the road. It will probably be the summer before Here Holy Spain steps onto another stage, so in the meantime, you can purchase their albums, “Manic” and the amazing, “Division”, in iTunes, so check both of them out.

The final band of the night was Trebuchet. I’d been looking forward to this, mainly because I saw them here (when it was still the Boiler Room) almost every time they played here between June 2009 to late 2010 when the venue got re-branded. They got off to a later start since there were some technical difficulties involving the monitors, but everything got straightened out eventually and they opened their 51 minute set with an instrumental song, almost like they were treading the waters to make sure the sound was alright. They rocked it out, with bassist, John Yett, putting forth the most energy in my opinion, as he really got into the music. They followed it up with a newer song, which seems to make up the bulk of their set these days. I like ‘em, but I know I’ll like them more once they get their new record out where I’ll actually know the songs. Fortunately some older stuff is still in rotation, and lucky for me they still had “Black Beard” worked in, as drummer, Bobby Lotfipour, started the song while singer and guitarist, Justin Hawkins, worked out some things with the sound guy, then ditched his guitar for the song. This felt like old times, being in my “usual” spot right up front in between center stage and stage left, and Justin evidently thought so, too. I’m pretty sure it was during this song that, at a break, he said something about he was really wanting to grab hold of and hang from the water pipe above his head. After encouragement from the sound guy, he did just that, using it to steady himself as he walked out on the backs of the chairs that held the monitors, often struggling to keep his balance. Every time I saw them here he would do that, but I still remember the one time he grabbed onto said water pipe and then got scolded by the sound guy, despite having done it countless times before. They did a few more new songs afterwards, one of which was an instrumental and I believe the last of these three was their tune, “43”, which was recently put up to listen to. It’s a lengthy song, upwards of eight minutes, and still when I listen to it, it just seem like a Trebuchet song, just because it has such a different feel than their other material. I certainly don’t mean anything negative by saying that, as I love the song, and like how it shows off a completely different side of everything from the sound to Justin’s vocals, but it is definitely a departure from what they typically do. No sooner had it ended than lead guitarist, Dustin Fleming, began slowly building up to their next song, “Intelligent Design”. Now this was where things got interesting. During the second verse, Justin again decided to leave the stage, but unlike earlier where he walked on the backs of the chairs, he stepped onto one of the monitors… and fell to the floor. The monitor was apparently balanced in the chair, so when he stood on it, it gave and toppled over, bringing him with it. He looked shocked, and every fan around him grabbed him, but only after he had hit the ground. Bobby, John, Dustin, and fellow guitarist, Keith Naylor, kept right on with the song though, as Justin eventually pulled himself back on stage and re-joined them somewhere in the second chorus. “Hey, no one stand on those monitors.” he warned when the song concluded, making light of the situation. “72” came next, which stands out as being my favorite new tune of theirs I’ve heard so far, and has an epic feel to it. I also really like the line, “…Be on guard, this information has a cost…”. I’ve said many times before that I love how the band constantly changes up their set list, always keeping things fresh, but not too long ago one of their songs was used as a routine show closer, but more recently it has seemed to serve as the opener. Well, this night “Cowboy Rick” finally, once again was used to end a show. I was paying attention to the other members, but towards the end of the show I saw Johns’ bass suddenly fly across stage, landing on the opposite side as Dustin accidentally stepped on it. John walked off stage, and I was unclear as to what happened, thinking maybe he got pissed off and just threw it (haha). It turned out his bass strap had broke on him, but many of the fans still wanted more. John went and grabbed a bar stool, saying he could do one more, while Justin had already started unplugging his pedals, and after a short little debate they decided to call it a night, which was fine with me, as that was a good note to end on.

This was the best Trebuchet show I’ve seen in awhile (and also one of the longest) and it was amazing. Stellar job by the band! Check out their debut double-disc release, “The Bear and the Moon” on iTunes and their split EP with The Phuss through the Do For It Records store. You can find them in Fort Worth on March 31st at Tomcats West. Also, the band will be playing the WhiskeyBoy Radio benefit show for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in August. The exact date for Trebuchet will be Saturday, August 4th and the event will be hosted at The Ranch in Arlington.

Also, if you would like to contribute to Trebuchet's effort to release their next album, go check out their Kickstarter campaign.

The night was just mind-blowing all the way around, so special kudos to Ty Griffin for setting all of this up. Every band who played this night is featured on at least one Escaping the Ordinary compilation, either Volume I, Volume II or Volume III, so check them all out, as they are all available for FREE download. And stay tuned to ETO, as you can count on them to do more shows in the future.

This one night of 35 Denton, at this one venue was truly spectacular and a ton of fun. Maybe next year I’ll splurge on a wristband (or could get a press pass?) and fully enjoy it. Hell, if I’m lucky maybe I can even pull together a The Music Enthusiast showcase for one of the nights.

Finally, there was something else special about going out this night... It marks the six-year anniversary of the first real local show I saw at a club in Deep Ellum. To spread my love of those bands that played that show (The FEDS and Space Cadet) I wrote a blog about it (if you could call it that, as my writing ability was even shittier then than it is now). That was the first show I ever blogged about, so essentially, March 11th marks the birth of The Music Enthusiast ( though it took several years before I adopted that name). And now, six years later, I feel like possible something could potentially come from all this… We will see, and thank you to everyone who takes time to read these posts.

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NOTE: If any bands want me to A.) write a review of their album or B.) wish me to play their music on my podcast, than email me. Also, I have partnered with Sawed Off Productions & WhiskeyBoy Radio, both of whom will help me present The Music Enthusiast showcases. If your band would be interested in performing at a future showcase, email me for consideration: [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!