Anyhow, Monday I went out and bought myself a new Fujifilm FinePix S5200. Not a top-of-the-line camera by any means, but much better than the one I was using before. The old one was pretty much just auto-focus, point and click, no different settings for different light, no manual controls, etc. This new one has all that. It also takes video clips, although I am fairly disappointed in the quality of the sound on the clips.
The point of all this camera talk is that I found myself with a new toy and I had to go test it out. It being Monday and all, the perfect place was naturally Club Kristal. The Sons of Sancho, Sintense and Nightmare Sinema were playing up there, so I headed out to play!
I walked in during The Sons of Sancho (formerly El Sancho). This is the second time I’ve caught these guys and again I didn’t manage to catch a whole set. Also, I have to say that I was kind of intent on figuring out this new camera, so I wasn’t as focused on the music as I should have been. I read the manual before I left the house, but reading and doing are two different things.
So I’ll just say this: I like these guys because they’re different. Their sound is sort of a heavy funk, with some punk and reggae elements mixed in. The singer, Matt, has a lot of energy and I almost messed up when getting a video clip, because when he started bouncing around on the stage, I found myself starting to bounce, too. You can’t really do that when you’re trying to make a video!
If you want to see the video clip it’s here: Sons of Sancho Video Clip
Keep in mind that the sound quality of the camera is not good. The band sounded great; the video clip has very jumpy sound. Also, I was standing too close to the speakers on this one. I’m learning. This clip is also fairly dark. There just wasn’t a lot of light being focused on the band from the front during this song.
(I’ll be getting these clips up on a page over at sarocks.com as soon as possible. I’ll probably have to take down clips that are on there and put up new ones as I go so I don’t use up all my web space and bandwidth. That sucks, but I think it’s going to be necessary. Or maybe, if I can afford it, I’ll upgrade. We’ll see.)
Next up was Sintense, who I’ve seen before, at Rock City Bar (with El Sancho) and enjoyed very much. They’re one of the reasons I decided to go up to Club Kristal Monday. I hadn’t seen them in a while. Once again, they sounded great. As I mentioned in my previous review, I think these guys have what it takes to make it. They have a sound that can appeal to a large audience...it’s fairly heavy but not too heavy to appeal to the mainstream alternative rock crowd, and yet they don’t sound like every other band. Their songs have catchy melodies and rhythms that stick in your head and make you want to hear them again. I also mentioned in the review that Dex needed a larger stage than the one at Rock City, and Kristal has that (although I wish they’d get rid of those damned rails around it!), so I got to see him with more free range. Very hyper, lots of fun to watch! How he spins around so much with a corded mike and never trips himself is beyond me!
They played their fans’ favorites: Julias Tune, Define Happy, Friday Night, and more, then asked what we wanted to hear. Naturally I shouted out “Probandt,” which is my favorite, and even though the rest of the crowd wanted something else, they did oblige me with my fave (and then pacified the rest of the people. Thanks guys!) So I took a video of “Probandt.”
This one is a little better. I decided to move back from the stage and the speakers and use the zoom instead. Thus, the sound is little better, but still jumpy. Again, don’t blame the band; blame the camera! Sintense: Video Clip from “Probandt”
Last of all, Nightmare Sinema, whom I have not seen before. When I saw the drummer, Dino, with a green mask on, setting up his drums, I had no idea what to expect. Was this going to be a theatrical show, with scary masks and hellish harmonies? Which would be cool. It wasn’t like that, but it was a damned good show.
The other two members of the band dress fairly normal, no masks. The guitarist, AJ, and the bass player, Mark, share the job of lead vocals, and their voices flow together and compliment and counterpoint each other. Their tunes move from slow eerie wailing into heavy crunching rhythms into ripping solos and back again. Lots of variety, very good flow, lots of movement. I was very impressed by their drummer. I had to do a double-take at one point to make sure he was only using one bass drum, because it sounded like double-bass. He’s that quick.
I took some pics of them and then a video, then ran out of space on my card. Turns out a 1 gig card doesn’t hold as much as I thought it would! Well, at least now I know the limitations I have to work under, right? But in a way, this was good, as I finally quit messing with the camera and just enjoyed the show. Their strong rhythms had me entranced and made me want to do some serious headbanging, or what we used to call hair-dancing, but I didn’t want to be the only one out there, so I refrained. Some of the old Sneakers gals need to come out to Kristal so I’m not alone! They could also have helped save me from the little loser who kept asking me who I was there with and did I want to give him a little kiss...is this a line guys think will work? Come on! “Do you want to give me a little kiss?” WTF is that?!
Anyway, check out the video clip of Nightmare Sinema. I forgot to zoom in before I started shooting it (you can’t zoom once you start), so it looks further away, but it’s kinda cool cuz you get more of the lighting effects.
Nightmare Sinema Video Clip
All of these bands are definitely worth your while to check out. You can catch them next at:
Sintense and The Sons of Sancho: This Friday at The Wiggle Room
Nightmare Sinema: February 24th at Reptilez Sports Bar
And coming up at Club Kristal tonight: Darkwater, I.D. and The Hawks of Holy Rosary, plus live music every Monday and Thursday night. Come support live rock on the North side!!!