|
|
Tonight, NGB pulled closing duties for Down To This' CD release party. There were three opening bands (Souls Release, EC-65 and Chrysalis).
This was the first time I have ever set foot in the Grog. In general, I've just refused to go; most of the bands that play there do not appeal to me. It's a pretty decent venue, though. It's not very deep and pretty wide, but the acoustics are respectable and the management has a relaxed and open attitude towards the acts (a nice change of pace).
Things were going pretty well; Souls Release had a great set of melodic power pop, EC31 put out high energy, pop friendly punk and Chrysalis played, well, rather downbeat, depressing, goth hard rock. Then Down To This (DTT) took the stage. They worked through most of the tunes on their new CD, pushing out hard, semi-trash rock. They had about sixty or seventy people hanging out, grooving to their music.
Once they were done, we got on stage. I didn't have to bring my own rig, as Jason from DTT let me play through his cabinets. We started off with about thirty people or so, and they started to get into our set. Unfotunately, things changed in the second song.
It seems that a fire broke out in one of the restaurants up the street. About halfway through the second tune, the ladder truck right out side the door turned on all their lights. Blinding white light poured into the club, attracting everyone's attention (It definitely attracted mine). Trust me, it's awfully hard to compete with the fire department trying their best to fight a fire.
In short order, the club emptied out as people went onto the street to watch the firefighters. We stayed and played out the rest of our set, both for ourselves and for those few people who did stay. I think they had a good time, grooving on the rest of our set.
Getting out of the club was it's own adventure. The police had the area closed off, so we could leave but not get back. I ended up making a run with my guitars and such to my car, then sneaking around to the back of the Grog, hopping a fence and then making another trip. Not the easiest of things.
Overall, it was a good show. The club liked what we did and they've already invited us back. We made some good friends with the other bands and even picked up a new fan or two.
Posted by Casper at May 2, 2004 02:12 AM