Friday, January 25, 2008

Show Review #4

Line-up: Vanna, The Jonah Veil, Francine.... and..... HER ruby slippers, Ships And Sailors, The Anasazi Ritual, Silence The Sky
Venue: The Harmony Grange Wilmington, DE
Accomplice: N/A

This is my first delaware show review. Project Unity runs most of the all ages shows down here and have been doing it for 5+ years now. They're pretty well known as THE promotors in Delaware, throwing shows of all types. I'll probably end up reviewing alot of their shows seeing how I live literally a couple of blocks away from the venue they use, The Grange.

Now, The Grange is a fickled place. Everyone judges it for because the average age for show-goers is 16. It's a reason alot of people stopped attending, but than again, they're just assholes who were just looking for a way to say that they're so much more mature than everyone else.

The first band that played were Silence The Sky. I'd rather have them silence the band. I didn't hear much because I showed up late, but when i walked in, the entire band was moshing on stage. If you could call that a mosh. It just seemed to me that they're all sissy fighting the air. Anyway, they were your standard breakdown following breakdown type of band. Wasn't my thing, but apparently the crowd semi enjoyed it. Didn't check the merch cause I wasn't interested at all. (After note: I didn't think I gave this band fair judgement, so i went to their myspace. I found out 3 things. 1. They're from Delaware. 2. Their lyrics read like horrible poetry. 3. They really like Horse The Band. I think that gives you a better description of them)

The next band was Anasazi Ritual from Middletown, DE. Its nice to see some local bands on this show, even though it was 6 bands long. Wow, I just said bands 3 times(4 times) in 2 (3) sentences. Jesus. Moving on. These guys play metal ripped straight from As I Lay Dying and they do it justice. Only, music like this bores the hell out of me live. These guys also have ZERO stage presence which only added to the boredom. I found myself thinking about the some inane things like, "If birds were the same size as human beings, they could possibly rule the world!" Yeah, it was that bad. They had some demos, but I didn't pick one up. Listening to their myspace now, that could've been a mistake.
Ships and Sailors was the third local band and the one most of the crowd came for. Harry Mazzio, one of the two people behind Project Unity, just produced their new EP. It wasn't a fact that made me excited to see the band, but it did pick my interest a little. I never heard nor seen the band before, even though they were heavily hyped in the Delaware scene. I thought there must have been good reason for the hype, but honestly, there wasn't. Mixing metal with melodic rock, ala Silverstein, Haste The Day, and As I Lay Dying (gee, they're ending up all over this show.), they're quite predictable. This, I guess, is what people refer to as "Christian Hardcore". They do have an enjoyable live show though, bouncing around and enjoying themselves. It just wasn't my thing. Didn't bother to check out their merch, but if you're interested, they'll have an EP out on February 15th.

Next up was the only truely interesting band of the night, Francine... and... her RUBY slippers. Not a whole lot of being were into them, but I was really digging the diversity they gave the show. I heard a mixture of Bloc Party, Fugazi, and Ted Leo in their sound. Not easy to pull off, but they did it surprisingly well. The vocals are the weakest part of the band, but the music makes up for it. They had a demo they were giving out for free, but they didn't have anymore, so I got free sticker instead. Whoopee.

Next was The Jonah Veil, whom i thought was actually the headlining band. Unfortunately, no such luck. These guys like Atreyu. I mean, they REALLY like Atreyu. And I really hate Atreyu. So, I wasn't into them, but the crowd sure loved them. The stage presence though was really great. They were full of energy and got the crowd participating and moshing. Didn't check out the merch either because, once again, I wasn't interested.

Finally, the headlining band was up. Vanna plays metal mixed with rock, calling it post-hardcore on their website. If I can for a moment, I would like to explain what post-hardcore truely means. Post-hardcore was started in the 80's when musicians who were part of hardcore bands decided they wanted to do something else. It still has the frenzy and intense feeling of hardcore, but with more creativity. The music went from a subtle effect to a roaring presence. But it was all still rooted in hardcore. Now, I don't see anything post-hardcore about this band. Their music is, big surprise here, a mix of metal and rock. There is a countless number of bands that sound akin to them, and really almost every band on this show. But they're actually very entertaining live. Or maybe it could've been the girl in front of me who just kept hopping up and down and shaking her head. The kids moshed, stage dove, and sang along. The band interacted alot with the crowd other than just the regular "MOOOOOOOOOOOSH!" call, something that has always been missing from this scene. When their set ended though, they did something that everyone seemed to find amusing. Not me though. I just found it freaking retarded. That stupid motherfucking "Soldia Boy" tune came on and they started dancing to it. They cut the song short on the chorus and just walked off stage and into my vomit filled waste basket. Whatever, they had a good time doing what they're doing and they make other people happy doing it too. Also, I just want to say, the singer looks like my friend Cassie with a dirty sanchez. Cassie is a 16 year old girl. Figure that shit out. Past on the merch once again.


Overall, it was a fun show. Every band on the bill was one I have never seen, so that was cool. It did get a tiring after hearing the same fucking sound over and over again though. Well, thats all for my review this time around. As usual, I'm asking for help with upcoming shows, records dropping, or just a plain old arguement. So let me know if you wish to help! Thanks!


PS. Special thanks to Lauren for the Vanna shots. Check her out

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

atreyu huh? i dont see it. weird.

Anonymous said...

SOUNDS LIKE IF I HAD WENT I'D A BEEN DISAPPOINTED TOO....BUT THE SHOW IS CONFERMED FOR SATURDAY.laDY FEST IB BALTO ,MD.CHELSEY AVE....5BUX MINIMUM DONATION......RIOT GIRLS GONE WILD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Casey Critic said...

Well, well my friend. I shall be seeing you at the grange sometime soon I suspect. Love the review. Hell, I go to shows for the 16 year old ladies. ;)