Wow.
That's a pretty much all I have to say about last night. Our first impression of The Venue was one of hesitation when we pulled up on Euclid Street. At first glance, it's a "diamond in the rough". Across the street from a rundown hotel/apartment complex undergoing some construction you would never know that a pearl lay inside the rough exterior shell.
When we agreed to play the Pure Fyre Entertainment-sponsored "Battle of The Bands", we had minor expectations. While we knew we'd be playing alongside some relatively "young" bands, we walked in with an enthusiastic attitude. Any opportunity to play in front of a diverse (read younger) crowd, is a good one for us. We arrived to the driving sound of a cover of "Ring Of Fire" (anyone who has seen the sticker on the back of my car knows why this brought a smile to my face). Unfortunately, we didn't get the opportunity to listen to much of the band performing the song as we were loading in. After doing all the heavy lifting (the fun part of being an indie band), we set up our merch table and sat down for some water (*no really, water...Scout Bar the night before took it's toll).
The first band we actually watched was City On A Snowfield. Fronted by a young lady by the name of Marissa with a great voice, the band played their whole set full of heart and poured it out. They'd obviously hustled to get folks there as they sold a "plethora" of tickets for the event. I later met Derek and Jacob as I was getting my guitars ready in the prep room. They told me that they'd caught us at Warped Tour. It was the first time anyone had told me that and I was grateful that they'd stuck around to see a bit of the show that long hot summer day.
The band that played after that was called Arm In Time. A three-piece new to S.A., they played a bluesy, etheral brand of power rock that (although not everyone could appreciate it) showed the talent that these three guys had to offer. There music exuded a maturity that overshadowed their relatively young members. On their MySpace, they talk of combining the 60's with the current decade and I think it describes them well.
Next up was the punk/pop/rock band Given A Chance. They rocked hard with their Green Day-esque performance and lightened the mood with their stage banter. A great band if you're a fan of modern punk. Check 'em out. We caught most of their show, then prep'ed for our turn on stage.
After a quick equipment set up and almost non-existant sound check (which made absolutely no difference as The Venue's resident sound guy worked some P.F.MAGIC!) we went in to our first tune. Now I have to be honest here....we didn't have a whole lot of energy before taking the stage because we were pretty worn out from the night before. Our spirits were down due to a critical "no-show" by someone we'd counted on, and we didn't quite feel at our "best" prior to hitting the first note. BUT IT ALL WENT AWAY the minute I went in to the first riff of Chapter. We decided to roll with a set that required no guitar changes (and for me, that's damn unusual), and it was PURE ENERGY.
Now...to make this story a bit more interesting, I'm going to show you exhibit A. This is photographic evidence proving the difference a day makes.
So..back to the story:
Those whom have witnessed the conclusion to a true Black Doves show, have seen that at times I can get a little destructive. Now we're not talking about Pete Townsend destructive (because we're broke...if we had the money to spend on new amps, guitars, drum heads, etc...we'd break it..believe me), but let's just say a little "amp'ed up" (no pun intended). So, last night was no different. At the end of Eyes Wide, with my guitar held by one hand I decided to throw it. Now, instead of just dropping it, I swung it to throw trying to ensure a "safe" landing but providing my Marshall with a distorted "bang" of a finish. To my detriment, I swung said guitar directly into my face reminiscent of Krist Novoselic at the VMA's. This resulted in what I like to call Exhibit B:
Now these two photos minimize what it looked like last night as the wounds had been washed, and treated. You can see evidence of the black eyes. Picture these two wounds bleeding, along with a nice stream of blood flowing from my left nostril...Now you're getting the picture....:)
Final result: A little blood on the stage and one of the best shows The Black Doves have ever performed. With some excellent work by a good sound man, a little energy from the crown, and some post-Thursday night angst, we threw down. We didn't win the battle and we have some scars. We learned some lessons about trust and responsibility. We met some awesome people and saw a lot of talent...most of all:
We rocked the *&%$@ house and felt good doing it.
For those whom still haven't seen us live, we'd love to see you at the next show. For those that have, keep coming back and tell some friends. We're about to release this long overdue CD and we want you all to be a part of it. Special thanks to Vega and the staff of The Venue, to Jon, Crimson Envy, Ember, Kelly and the friends the night before, and to the bands that put it all out there even if there are only a few people watching. Keep coming back.
Much Love people.
-Steve
Resident Black Dove
http://www.myspace.com/theblackdovesusa