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| Frozen Tundra at Every Buddy's Bar |
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| Written by John Abbott | |||
| Tuesday, 16 November 2010 07:42 | |||
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Can I believe that just two days before the show, I was rolling around town on the harley? It was a short ride I admit. Really, just the long route to the deli seven blocks from my house. But, still it was a ride. And tonight, its cold. Snowing. I read in the paper just 90 miles away they got twelve inches of snow. Are we going to get it too? Oh god. I realize it is the middle of November, but I'm still not ready!
And yet, I was out. I was at Every Buddy's Bar, to catch a Volume One winner, Breakneck the Mage. Breakneck played the middle set of what turn out to be a really overall good show. Though it had its ups and downs, The Wife and I both walked away happy, never having to utilize our backup plan which was The Pheromones at the Lodge. But this is the second great show in a row I have seen on this new stage in town.
I have to say right up front that I am no real hip hop guy. Some days, in certain moods I reach for some Eminem, but that is about as deep into it as I go. So, consider me an outsider in my comments below.
The headliner was Frozen Tundra. And, their closing song was perhaps a bit out of character for the night. It was much more like a heavy metal song but had some really nice female rap vocals wound around it. And I liked it quite a lot. In fact, I would really call it my uncounted (because of the genre shift) musical highpoint of the night. Loved it. Shame I couldn't get a picture of them. Too dark, but I will get back to that.
I have a bit of a mixed review on Breakneck the Mage. I understand he has something new coming out, a new CD. And, I think he was putting out there the new stuff from the CD, but I felt like it made his show a little scripted. I feel like he was working hard to make it sound just like what they had mixed down to in the studio, but not so hard as he could to make it the best for the moment, if you get my differentiation. That loosened up eventually, and I was happy for the experience overall. But I am there for the live version, man! I can listen to your CD at home!
I think this is Fantom, on stage at Every Buddy's Bar. If anyone knows for sure, correct me below in the comments.
But, the female vocals for Frozen Tundra were pretty good too. If she would have gotten more center stage time, I would have been all the happier. So, you can see it was a night of pretty evenly matched entertainment.
I really like the venue, Every Buddies Bar, with one exception, and I get to that. But, first I have to say the music was great. The acoustics of the place are pretty good. The only real problem is lighting. It is horrible. Almost impossible to take pictures it is so dark. The place was packed, but it was good crowd. Not the overly testosterone fueled crowd of Dewey's. It seemed much safer. Which is real improvement over Dewey's Roadhouse. It is great to have a new music venue in town, and it is great to have the variety Every Buddy's has offered. I hope they can keep it up.
When I first walked in, I noticed the crowd, somewhat around the parameter, leaving me to say, "wow, room right up front!" Wrong. Once I was there I discovered exactly why there was a rough trapezoid of emptiness in a fairly full bar. The stage lighting, was mostly made up of a multi-lazer(like?), beams shooting into the crowd. The green version of which lit my retinas about every thirty seconds. By like the fourth pop, I was gun shy. I tried looking at the floor, trying to imagine if I could spent the whole show this way. It really didn't help. I had to drop into the masses who were in the shadow of the speaker risers. It sucked! Every Buddy's has to get some lights. Even one would be better than what they have!
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Haha. It's been seven years so I guess I had to get a bad review eventually. I assume I'm allowed a rebuttal?
If you'd listen to my albums, you would realize that my CD actually sounds more like my live show than vice-versa, as you described it. I go in the studio and make songs in one-take, giving you the raw on-stage feeling on my recorded material. I've been done in the studio for over three months, and have heard my songs literally thousands of times and am working through 48 songs trying to get it down to two albums which means I listen to them basically all day(when Im not at work). The only way I could make it more the way you are requesting is by not practicing/listening and getting worse haha. The songs you heard are nothing like they will be on the album, half of my songs are free-styled live. I was throwing in my friends names in the crowd and Chippewa Falls/Frozen Tundra/Packers/Brewers references left and right, none of that stuff is in my actual recorded songs. No two Breakneck the Mage performances are alike, and that has been my best selling point over the past seven years. People who saw me at the House of Rock two weeks ago wouldn't have even known the songs were the same, aside from the beat. I didn't have my live band there, so that probably took away a little of the spontaneous feel, but I thought the DJ (Blue Pauly) did a great job of filling in for the band. I appreciate what you're saying. I echo the same sentiments when it comes to a live hip hop show. We want the same things from our live show experiences. I just think you may be confused on what I gave you (I guess tried to give you) Saturday, that was not a scripted performance by any means. I could come to your house with a boombox and cassette tape of some beats and perform the same songs right now with completely different words than you heard on Saturday if you want me too. If I sound too polished, it's only because I live these songs 24/7. But anyway, it's all love from me, and anyone out there who read this or came out to the show I thank you very much and I'll be playing in Chippewa again really soon so keep your eyes peeled. If you want to support Breakneck the Mage buy the new albums when they drop in February on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, CDBaby, volumeone.org, breakneckthemage.com,accesshiphop.com and record stores throughout the midwest (WI,MN,IL,MO)!! February 2nd--TWO NEW FULL-LENGTH BREAKNECK THE MAGE ALBUMS Overdubs & Overdoses featuring production from Ryan Jobe, Passion Hi-Fi, and SickASSmick The Misadventures of Breakneck the Mageproduced by LC Slak SONIC SWINGS RECORDS...It's A Midwest Thing breakneckthemage.com myspace.com/breakneckthemage This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it P.S. Keep supporting Freaks and Geeks guys, they're doing a good thing here.
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November 16, 2010
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 30 January 2011 02:46 |
