There were a lot of things that were unique about this
show, so I wanted to talk about how it, and the venue, were different, as well
as say a little about the two other bands.
The venue was truly unique. I am fairly sure it started
as an office building, but has been changed into a haunted house, and the
ground floor was set up with a stage and sound system.
It was probably the closest to a basement show that I
have ever been in. Things were stripped down, and mic'ed up loud, and while
there was room to hold a lot more people, I would guess the attendance was no
more than about 100.
The atmosphere was good. There weren't really haunted
house effects where we were, but there was some wall art that added some mood,
as well as shades over the lights that were probably just there for
glare/reflection reduction, but kind of resembled bats. Mainly it was pretty
Spartan, and that worked. There was plenty of room for dancing, and like I
said, they had it loud.
That vibe of low-key, but good, continued with the
concessions. It was primarily bags of chips, candy bars, cans of pop and energy
drinks - the things you can easily buy in bulk at Costco or similar places -
but they were reasonably priced, and they also had a popcorn machine, which was
really cool.
Personally, I hate moshing. It was allowed here, but
there were warning signs, when someone got out of hand they stepped in, and
then issued a reminder to the crowd that overall I think worked well.
So these were all good things about the venue, and I love
the idea of concerts in a haunted house. There were two big downsides, one of
can be fixed, but the other might be more problematic.
Set up took forever. It was like no sound checks had been
run. Part of it may be that they didn't stack band equipment, so each band had
to set up everything before going on. The stage was not huge, and I know it's
probably a pain for opening bands to have to work around the headliner's
equipment, but it just took forever. The show was estimated to end at 11, but
at 11 Farewell, My Love had just
finished, and that meant their takedown, Snow White's Poison Bite's setup, and
then their entire show, were still to come.
This is part of the reason that I did not stay for Snow
White's Poison Bite. Their review will be only a band review, not a concert
review, and I feel very bad about that. Part of that is the workable problem,
which is getting things running more smoothly and minimizing downtime. The
other problem, that may be less workable, is location.
The Haunt is over by Portland Meadows. It was a young
audience for the most part. I didn't see a lot of cars parked, and I would
guess a lot of the attendees are either walking, relying on public transportation,
or calling parents.
It doesn't seem particularly near to housing, and it is
kind of near MAX, except that path to MAX is under a freeway underpass. On my
way to the show, right around there I think I saw vagrants fighting over
something. Even if I think I can make it home without being raped and murdered,
I have people who worry about me, and I just could not stay out later than
that.
As I headed back to the train, there were two young girls
heading that way too. I thought, Great! I can keep an eye on them, or yell for
help if needed. That worked well until we were almost out from underneath the
underpass, when they hugged and the one started back. I am very glad that she
escorted her friend, but now I have to keep looking behind to see if she is
making it back safely. As far as I know, all three of us are still breathing,
but it was more stress than I like.
It was a good show (and I wish I had seen all of it), and
I like the idea, but there are some points against it. Also, I think the proprietors
were getting some flack about the shows from the property owners, so I don't
know what's going to happen there. Maybe they can move to Beaverton. We have a
lot of empty properties out here.
One thing that did make the evening take longer is that in
addition to the four featured bands there were two local bands, with their
respective setups and takedowns. We had Whispers of Wonder and We Rise the
Tides.
We Rise The Tides was probably the more put together of
the two. They had banners similar to the ones Snow White's Poison Bite used,
and two cute girls running their merch sales (I don't think Whispers of Wonder
had any merch), and they even had a videographer, the female of a pair who may
or may not have been the bass player's parents. However, I really liked
Whispers of Wonder better.
Bands where the vocals are growling and shouting are not
my main thing, but I've listened to quite a few since I've started doing this,
and one thing that I have learned is that if you are going to do that, your
instrumentation needs to be really strong, adding layers and complexities that
normally come from the vocals.
With We Rise the Tides, it sounded like every song was
the same. Listening to them recorded it is not quite as obvious, but still,
listening to Whispers of Wonder is just more interesting. Listen to the intro
on "The First Year" for example. Yes, they do start shouting shortly
thereafter, but there is just more to it.
And that's not to make it a contest. Both bands are
obviously young bands, with years ahead of them to get it right. I was
listening to an interview about CBGB's not too long ago, and the point they
were making is that CBGB's would let anyone play, and they had many sets during
an average night, so it was a place where bands learned to be good. So I can
resent the two local bands because it made the show an hour longer and I missed
a band I was there for, or I can be grateful that bands get chances to try
things out, which they need. I'm glad they got their chance. I'm just saying I
think Whispers of Wonder is better.
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