Just to prove that I actually DO attend some of the events I blog about, I swung out to Club 3 Degrees on Friday night and checked out the first night of their band competition. Several bands played just over a half-hour set each, and were judged by several industry/media pros. As the series of contest concerts progresses, bands accrue points during their performance, and the bands with lowest points bands will be eliminated. The series of concerts goes until next spring.

Since Club 3 Degrees is an Outreach (taking the church to where the kids are) that is a factor in all the bands and their music. Some bands were 'preachier' than others, some you wouldn't even know it. I don't let their motivations weigh in my music reviews, everyone has their own reasons for making music, and it doesn't have any bearing (to me, anyways) on whether I like the music or not. Choirs of Demons can sound every bit as good as Choirs of Angels to me.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the first band, so I can't tell you anything about them.

9-Ball - I'll be the first to tell you that I think Emo music sucks ass, and while 9-Ball's music didn't make me puke, it did make me nauseous. 9-Ball is from Kentucky, but don't hold that against them. They have asymmetrical haircuts and an overabundance of energy, so hold *that* against them instead. They looked like animals at the zoo just before feeding time. The lead singer/guitar player and the bass and second guitar all had wireless units and raced around the stage like maniacs. [Warning: Lots of Posing.] I like to know that the musicians are actually ALIVE when I go to see them play LIVE, so the exaggerated animation was refreshing, but they overdid it to the point where people were laughing. GREAT Bass tone, BTW.

Red Dress White - More Emo, although not as gut-wrenching as 9-Ball, but the same setup, (Bass, Singer/Gtr, second gtr and drums). Their songs were good (for Emo...), but their stage presence was far worse. They fretted with settings, cables and the lead singer's monologue was forced/nervous/clumsy. He would also forget to jump around, then suddenly flail like a madman (or he has severe mood swings). Anyway, this band's studio work is better, but their live show will improve with practice. They just aren't quite concert calibre yet. Their songwriting skills are better than 9-ball, and the acoustic song they performed was possibly the best song of the night. The bass player is about ten years old. I don't know if/why that is important.

Searching For North: This band was intense and professional, with intro score before they came onstage, and loud, tight, well-practiced music that is borderline Epic Metal. Lots of talent here, but their attitude onstage and in the crowd after the show makes me think are quite full of themselves, and they should have checked their egos at the door. The music was really punchy and powerful and smacks of Tool (whom they list as a reference), but the lead vocalist is thin, and doesn't cut through the mix.

Claret: Claret won the judges high score for the night. I think they had a good balance of being active onstage without looking like idiots. They seemed comfortable without being overconfident, good level of energy without looking like they were trying too hard. I like that their music is 'emotional' without embracing the puking whine of contemporary 'Emo' music. Their songwriting is very adult, and makes good use of dynamic range (check out their demo of Hold Fast on their myspace page for an example.) Their closing song, "Picket Fences" was a hit, and made clever use of the audience sing-along, but the repeated ending dragged on for too long.

KTHXBYE,
-CZ

Labels: Cool Event, Minneapolis Event, music, music reviews