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| Bound2Break at Every Buddy's Bar |
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| Written by John Abbott | ||||||
| Sunday, 16 January 2011 04:41 | ||||||
 There were about a dozen fans and music lovers at Chippewa Falls newest stage, Every Buddys Bar, on Friday night. The band, I had never seen before. It was Bound2Break from Eau Claire. Despite the weather, which was awful, the night was great! A very small crowd took to the roads. We were well rewarded. I really enjoyed everything about the Bound2Break show. From acoustic beginning to near metal climax, I was a happy music fan.Yeah sure, I had some knowledge it had been snowing. I am a late night worker. So lots of times I catch an afternoon nappy about three. When I woke up, still laying there, I was thinking I'd run down to Eau Claire. Hit the asian grocery. Stock up on some Thai makings. We are entertaining the vivacious blonde from up the street, and round the corner, tomorrow night. But, once I was vertical and took stock of my environment, I decided I wasn't going anywhere. It was snowing hard. Can't see across the street hard. I checked back in to work. About ten thirty we are thinking of heading to the bar, I stepped outside to warm up the van only to discover it had never stopped. There's like eight fresh inches of snow on the ground. Nary a snow plow in sight. Ah yes. Wisconsin. Naturally we rolled in there just as the band was coming off stage for a break. I was happy their version of the fifteen minute break was actually 15 minutes. The show opened acoustically with a few originals and covers by vocalist, Dwayne Thomas. I was already happy by the second song. On solo, he had a few tempo issues here and there, and unfortunately some lingering sound issues through the whole acoustic show. Initially it was ugly bass feedback that took most of a song to really get rid of. The last three or four songs there was some worsening static on the guitar.  But those were just technical issues. Musically, it was fantastic. Dwayne has a great voice. His vocal timing was really perfect. And, I have to say, really wonderful stage presence. You really felt like the guy was giving you 110%. I liked that a lot. He sounded a little bit Dave Mathews, but not really. I guess the closest I can describe him to the locals is, and I know I am going to piss off at least one loyal reader by saying it. Lead singer Dwayne Thomas sounded exactly like a much younger, stronger voiced, Brian Bethke. Is that Wisconsin accent or something? Then, after about ten songs, and a few minutes additional setup, the full band came up. Again, I was very happy. I had hit the Bound2Break web site earlier in the afternoon and I already had couple of favorites. The band didn't disappoint. I think early on Gordon Altizer had some timing problems with his solos. It was like it just took a couple of songs for him to really get into the right groove. After that I thought his solos just kept getting better and better. The closing song, the band described as its darkest song. I would call it near heavy metal. Raw, very powerful. Definitely the good bang at the end of the show. We knew when to clap. It was great. The showmanship on stage was perfect. Even to the living out the ultimate, Walter Mitty, rock star fantasy as bassist Ryan Pittenger played from his back on stage. Very well played, Bound2Break.
Every Buddy's Bar continues to stage some great music. Drink prices are small town reasonable. The acoustics, with the bar's high ceilings are really surprising good. But, I have to again voice my complaint. Though the music is good to hear, it isn't so good to watch. The bar desperately needs some stage lighting. They currently have what looks like three modified coffee cans at the back of the stage pointing at the performer's backs. And, one annoying as hell, faux laser light pointed at my audience retinas. How much could it really cost to put four lights over the dance floor pointed at the stage? They would actually make the performers visible rather than silhouetted. It would turn the bar into an actual music venue! The band Bound2Break has some music on on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/Bound2BreakEC and the main, albeit out of date "official website" at http://bound2breakfans.com/
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 23 January 2011 17:04 |
