Buy the ticket, take the ride. ~Hunter S. Thompson
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| No Loving Place at House of Rock |
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| Written by John Abbott | |||
| Monday, 16 August 2010 17:20 | |||
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A free night of music at the House of Rock on Eau Claire's water street. Headlining was local heavy metal rockers, No Loving Place. I had been looking forward to this night since February, when I saw a far, far, far too short NLP set during the Decadent Cabaret. Since then I have seen the band twice, but only in their acoustic configuration. It was great to see a full set on the stage at the House of Rock. These guys are my favorite local metal. The volume was ear splitting. It is 4:30 on Sunday afternoon as I sit here writing this review. My ears are ringing, the sound of my own voice is funny in my ears. I have to ask The Wife to repeat things, as she does to me. Last night, after getting home from the show, I had to take The Dog for a walk. I got sort of freaked out. After a show like this I go on to walk my black dog, wearing my heavy metal uniform consisting of black pants, and black shirt and black hat. Usually I walk in the middle of the street. --An old streetwise habit from living in the big city and walking at night where you need that 30ft head start on someone who might chase you. But last night my ears were so blown out, while I was still on the sidewalk, a car rolled by me and I never heard it coming. So the dog walk was one of paranoia. Its funny, one of my key points in hating outdoor shows is the volume. I consider them never loud enough. But here is the other end of the spectrum. I know the saying "if its too loud, you're too old" but I really have to wonder if loud was being overdone. The House of Rock was super loud. 
Lead singer Tony Stamm of the band No Loving Place on stage at the House of Rock.
One, thing I do have to say…. The mosh pit at Phoenix Park was brutal. Much more so than a usual NLP pit. I saw boys walk away from that pit in tears a couple of times. Granted, the average age of the moshers in the pit was three and one half. No, no, it was just a crazy venue for NLP to play. At house of Rock, lead singer Tony Stamm was fantastic! Aside from the volume, the sound was great. The vocals were clear. I love the theatrical element he brings to the band. On the national stage, it is similar to the heavy metal band Disturbed where the lead singer has a background as an opera singer. Its just something you don't see done well locally. And Tony does it fluidly and naturally. The rest of the band seemed right on the money. Timing all seemed great, there were maybe a couple of drum issues but it was in some ways hard to tell because the music changes tempo fairly often. The music is great. I think they played all original music. The fans knew the music well and were singing along. I would have loved to have bought one of their CDs after the show but they had the sales stuff all packed up when the show was done. 
Michael Bushman lead singer for Fan Off Bird Safe on stage at the House of Rock
Lead singer, Michael Bushman screamed out some fantastically clear and on key vocals. Matt Florence was on a six string electric bass, the neck of which can also be used as an emergency landing strip in times of war. I am not positive that bass is not all gimmick yet. I last saw Matt playing a band called the Procrastinators at the Mousetrap. Drummer Andy Mulheron was energetic and steady. The closer, Pills was a show highlight. Yeah, I liked them. I missed Autocrat, the opening act of the night. The Wife and her dressing and hair preparation process ran long last night. I wasn't hugely disappointed. I heard them once before at the Snout Saloon in Chippewa Falls. And, maybe I would want to hear them again at some point, but I was kind of luke-warm on them at that time. Today you can feel the first breath of fall. Music will soon be moving indoors. I will be happy.
http://www.myspace.com/nolovingplace
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:25 |
