We arrived at Southpaw on time. I guess that would make us the only ones. Apparently the Rebel crowd is fond of the fashionably late entrance, which is cool cause it gave us some time to get a drink and relax before the show.
Despite an early and limited crowd The Gray Kid did not hold back. If anything, he might have been even more in your face. He kind of reminded me of a petulant five year old; stomping around the stage and saying the type of shit that would get your mouth washed out with soap. By this I mean to say is he holds the stage really well. He works his own back-up of dance-y hip hop beats and is a smart ass rapper all the way. He delivered pieces like “Oh My” and “Eh Man” with some heavy energy so it wasn’t a surprise when he said he hadn’t performed in eight weeks due to some broken ribs. He had been saving up I guess. Nice showing.
After the Gray Kid left the stage they pulled the curtain. Sorry, but this needs to be mentioned. I cannot remember the last time I saw the curtain pulled between acts at a show. Can you figure the need? I don’t think many people have illusions about what happens onstage between acts. Strange.
By the time Game Rebellion entered the crowd had fleshed out and moved towards the stage. Game Rebellion is your typical five man outfit with keys and a second guitar, but with a very atypical sound. I don’t know if I’m exactly knowledgeable enough to write this review because the sound was sort of metal. Oh well. They moved the sound around a lot though, from an insistent groove one moment to disconnected sounds and divergent notes the next. There were punk-y breakdowns and lack of continuity between instruments, but it worked towards a satisfyingly anarchistic whole. The vocals were lovely for the majority of the set, but then around the sixth song the second lead vocals came out of nowhere (behind the keys) and truly took it to the next level. The last two songs soared and then it was over. Great set.
Again the curtain was pulled. ? The Dragons of Zynth were a little late in coming out and by the time the curtain reopened Southpaw was packed. The last time I saw the Dragons was almost a year ago, wow that was a long time ago, at the first free Mccarren Pool show. I was late though (World Cup [Italy beat France 5-3 penalty shot over-over time]) and I was working the ice cream truck, so I didn’t really get to catch much of the set. The band is also your typical five man set up but with a unique sound. And look. Not really sure how to describe the sound. It’s sort of spacey. The lead singer came out half way through the first song and proceeded to ‘take us there’. I have to say, this band has one heavy drummer and one heady bassist. Such a full grooving sound. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay more than three songs deep, which was okay, because the slam dancing pit of people was rapidly approaching where we were standing. I was trying to explain to Abbey in the cab after the show why it would have been okay if I had been elbowed in the face, but in retrospect, my argument didn’t make much sense. So I’m glad we got out of there when we did.
