I apologize for the shitty pictures. Trying to take a picture of my personal crush, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez was especially hard to take a picture of since he does not stand still. Although the pictures are all equally pretty shitty (hey, I'm no photographer), this was the best I could do:
Of course Cedric Bixler-Zavala's distinctive voice, and let's go ahead and admit it, his gorgeous hair is easily recognizable this is not At the Drive-in or Mars Volta. Starting their set at 10:37 in the evening with "Hanging in the Lurch", it was like a bat out of hell. Omar was hungry to have a good time and also for food. He asked for it. The album is good, like a lot better than I expected. Its controlled chaos may turn of some, but even as I am listening to the album as I write this masterpiece of a review, I appreciate more of what I saw last night.
I felt the same way when I saw Them Crooked Vultures. Going into a show, not knowing if the sounds that you blasted from your computer would present the same emotions or what sort of stage presence to expect. Case in point came from a certain "dickhead" audience member. I'm not exactly sure what happened to cause Bixler-Zavala to say, "I dropped out of high school to do this for a fucking living, but I'm not going to sit here and watch a dickhead act like a fucking dickhead", but everyone including myself was a bit shocked since the band erupted into their set on a positive note.
My initial feelings, which I normally stray away from, were that this new band does not perform as if they are a new band, because it is not. It's a band full of experienced and talented musicians whose rapport works in such a way that their stage show is effortless.
But, not all was rainbows and unicorns. Towards the end of their set the band did something of a "jam". I hate jams. This is a personal preference. I do not like jams, jam bands, but strawberry jam is the shit. When I made this awful realization, it'd been going on for roughly 3 minutes. At 11:23 I thought it would never end. It was like that morning diarrhea after a Jack Daniels binge and 4 AM Taco Bell feast. It would not stop. In fact, it didn't end until 11:33. Although the crowd did not thin out during this mighty jam session, I did feel as though my brain cells did.
Don't get me wrong, this is a group of musicians to see. Whether in Mars Volta, At the Drive-in, or Antemasque, take what you can get, because ultimately listening to them play in any capacity is well worth it. Take a listen at my favorite track off of their self-titles debut album, "I Got No Remorse".
It would be a sin sin sin not to mention Le Bucherettes. Attending a Le Butcherettes experience is therapeutic to audience members and seemingly to also Teri Gender Bender. Donning red lipstick and a dress, the set started with "Dress Off" and I fell. The only thing I need to mention about Le Butcherettes, and if there is any doubt about going out of your way to see this band is this: If some old ass rock star says rock is dead, remember that he only needs to take his wrinkly balls off the floor and exit because he obviously hasn't experienced Le Butcherettes.