Whatever the hell night it was...a Friday many WEEKS ago...I went up to 321 Max to check out Ballistic. I didn't take my camera that night, so I have no proof, but take my word for it.
It's been so long now, I can't remember what songs they played, but they were good. A lot of the same songs that all the other cover bands play, but they did a good job of it, and hey, there's a reason all the bands play those songs, right? We like 'em.
And that was the busiest I've ever seen 321 Max. Usually when I go there, it's dead. It wasn't packed, but there were people there for once!
I had planned to hit 321 Max, then spin by Soho, where Papa Wood was playing, then head home. But on the way, my eye wandered over to BoozeHounds, where I hadn't been in a while. I swerved, and ended up at BoozeHounds.
I didn't know what band was playing and had to ask Scotty. Turns out it was the Sound Dogs. I was very pleasantly surprised. The Sound Dogs freakin' ROCK! I have seen no other band in town, cover band-wise, that plays what they do and people love it! Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, all the heavy shit. And they do a great job of it!
I also ran into the guys from Texas Special there and Ron Jarzombek, and hung out for a while, but I definitely want to go spend a whole night with the Sound Dogs sometime soon!
I did finally make it over to Soho for a couple beers and hung out with Papa Wood. Always a great experience...and they usually buy me some beer :)
The guys from hotspotsofsanantonio.com were there, which always makes for a party. Oh yeah...I do have pictorial proof of that night...Hot Spots took a pic of me at Soho:
Great night, all in all.
Saturday, I headed over to Sam's for some more original music.
The Killing Floor killed as usual...I've reviewed them so many times, I hate to even mention them, but dammit, they're GOOD! And they didn't fail to impress me as always.
If I remember the order correctly, up next was Satantonio. I'd been wanting to see these guys for a while, mostly just cuz of the name. These guys were fun. Simple hard-driving Texas rock-n-roll with a little punk thrown in. The songs were short and simple and fast and about Texas man things...beer, food, sex. Good stuff. I enjoyed them quite a bit.
Next up, another band I'd been curious about, was Monkeysoop. I had listened to some of their stuff on MySpace and it sounded all tripped out and psychedelic and I wanted to see them live. Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed. True, their stuff is tripped out and psychedelic and cool-sounding, but it's also...well, rather boring.
As much as I love a good instrumental, it gets monotonous when every song is just weird guitar riffs weaving in and out of a thumping rhythm. So, while I enjoy hearing a song or two from Monkeysoop, I'll have to say they're not my favorite band in concert.
The guy is a good guitarist, though. The female bass player also sang one song, not a Monkeysoop original, but surprisingly enough, Black Sabbath's "Never Say Die." It sounded OK. Actually I had to clarify with a friend what song it was. She announced it as Ozzy's "Never Say Die." I told my friend that I didn't think I knew that song. He explained that it was actually a Sabbath song. I said, "Oh, I know THAT song. That was supposed to be Sabbath's 'Never Say Die?'" So there ya' go. I didn't even recognize it.
I have to qualify my statements here by saying that some of my opinion may have been colored by the quality of the sound. It seemed that all of the instruments were at the same volume. So every song pretty much sounded like thundering bass and drum with the guitar buzzing around it like a bee. And I couldn't hear the girl's voice all that well for this same reason. Monkeysoop probably would have sounded a lot better with a different mix.
Oh, and the girl...I'm tired of calling her "the girl," let me look up her name...OK, Erica...she's also a good artist. They had some cool merchandise with her artwork on it. I was pretty broke, so all I could afford was a button, but I like it:
A fairy with a monkey tattooed on her ass. I had to have it.
Next was a band I had tried to see twice before, but failed both times. Once I couldn't make it and once they didn't make it. I'd listened to their stuff online and finally got to see them live: Tension Speak.
Here I was not disappointed at all. This is exactly my cup of tea. (Matter of fact, I'm listening to them right now.) Heavy, hard-driving metal...but melodic. Changing rhythms and tempos, not just the same nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah over and over. Every song doesn't sound the same. Lots of guitar. That's my favorite shit in the whole world. These guys were awesome. They blew the up-till-now mellow mood right out of the room.
Last up was Sintense, who I've seen many times before and reviewed. Also, I couldn't stay through their whole set, but I enjoyed them as always. My only comment will be this (and they won't be surprised): c'mon guys, do "Probandt" the original way...the cool thing about that song is the pounding rhythm...I just can't get into that mellower version. But that's just me...probably many other people like it that way. I still always love hearing you guys.
So, that was that weekend, however long ago...wait, let me look...OMG, that was in FEBRUARY! How the hell do I manage to fall so far behind? But, better late than never, I suppose...