No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master. ~Hunter S. Thompson
|
RSS Feed
| Designed by: |
| Assembly Required at Snout Saloon |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by John Abbott | |||
| Sunday, 10 October 2010 04:05 | |||
|
When last I saw Assembly Required, it was March. Andy Hayhoe had just left the band and Jason Chambers had just come in to take his spot. The band was sounding bit rough around the edges. Even rougher than normal. It seemed more like a jam session than anything that had been practiced. And, maybe it was. Here we are in Oct and there has been a personnel change again. This time, Chris Way has taken over the position of rhythm guitar. But, that was not the only change in Assembly Required. There was also music.
That music was better. Previously I have pigeonholed Assembly Required into the seventies and eighties music. Now, because, or despite, Chris playing with them, the music seems to have fast forwarded about fifteen years. It was much newer, and harder edged than before. I liked that change quite a lot. Chris played well and seemed to be steady and strong in his position. I might have heard a couple of short solos, but mostly he was there for backup. Lead guitar Brady Hasmuk was sounding good. I think also better than I had heard them before.
What is most consistent about an Assembly Required show is the fan party. These people are having a great time. The audience is made up of ninety percent early twenties, short haired, ball-cap wearing, testosterone fueled rockers. …along with a few falling down, wasted, chicks. This is a hard partying gang.
Still, don't get the idea the band was perfect. They are not. They are mostly in key, mostly in time, but outside of that box there are some genuinely cringing moments. There was one song where the band was playing a favorite of mine, and I was loving it. I don't remember the name of the song now. It was time for the short final solo and Brady Hasmuk stepped up to deliver. Within notes I said, oh no, he is off key. He played the solo through with the other band members sort of looking askance at one another. I wonder if they were trying to decide if they should switch to follow their leader or if it would come back together. It did eventually, but it was a rough few moments.
I think what helped was the band only played one fairly short set. They could lay out their best music in that time and not have to stretch too much. Much different than a complete night, three full sets.
Who are these guys? This is an unknown heavy metal band at the snout saloon.
Opening the night was some nameless heavy metal rocker. I asked several people, no one knew the name of the band. [ed: As pointed out below, the band is called Down The Stairs] I only caught the last song and a half of his set. It was very, very intense music. Had I known it was coming, I could have listened to some death metal in the car on the way to the bar and I would have perhaps been just fine. As it was, it was a bit shocking to hear this music pouring out of the Snout. Still though, it was interesting stuff, well played, and if I ever find out the name and hear about him performing again, I might try to catch a show. Audience members I talked to later in the evening, particularly my friend Richie, said they loved his performance. So, I will keep an open mind.
A downside of the show with three bands was the very loooong breaks between sets. I know it takes a while for one band to pack up and the other to get setup. But wow. It seemed like there was more waiting around time than music and I think the Snout Saloon lost most of its clientele between sets. That was a bummer. The music was good ...when it was playing. Hits: 796 Comments (3)Subscribe to this comment's feed...
The name of the Heavy Metal Band is "Down The Stairs" They are good friends of mine.
,
October 11, 2010
Write comment
|
|||
| Last Updated on Monday, 11 October 2010 04:01 |
