A small disclaimer prior to this review: As a band, if you state you're going to guest list someone who is attending to review your show, you should probably be aware that it is fairly important to give the guest list to the doorman.
I showed up for the Heavy Pets show on Thursday, told the doorman I should be on the list, to which he responded, "I don't have a list". Thankfully, I keep a paper trail and showed him the email from the band's publicist, to which he responded, "Oh, this is a jam band. They're disorganized. They leave their shit all over the floor around the stage, they don't start on time, and they don't remember they have a guest list. It's not a big deal."
So, bands, if you're going to invite someone to review you, please be organized enough to not make their first experience (walking in the door) frustrating.
That said, I was pretty impressed with what I heard in soundcheck (at 8:24, when doors opened at 8).
First band was called The Evil Elite. It was a four piece in which the drummer doubled as lead vocals (very classic rock sound), guitarist insisted on screaming, keys were being violently bashed and the bassist looked like he may have been sleeping.
I was totally judging those guys before they took the stage. I'm prone to judge if a group of twenty-something guys if they're all sporting matching tees/jeans. I mean, seriously, this brought up (blocked) memories from the 90s when boy bands were central focus.
Gross.
Although, I do not remember BSB wearing matching skeleton tees.
Furthermore, what's the deal with the road manager for The Heavy Pets running sound? Considering his inability to deliver a guest list to the door man, you can understand my skepticism.
So, the Evil Elite start off in *gasp* A MINOR KEY. The guitar's turned up too much, kid on keys is going to get an abuse charge slapped on him if he doesn't stop hitting her like that, and honestly, I WANT MORE BASS.
Perhaps it is jam band protocol to start out with instrumental tunes. Maybe they do this frequently. What the hell do I know? All I know is they did that and now they're covering Benny & the Jets?
Alright...positivity...um...I like that this band is set up differently than usual. I like that the frontman is the drummer.
Thing is, the vocal talent of the drummer, who perhaps is particularly keen at mimicry, is quite literally drowned out by the guitarist screaming. Someone get this kid some meds and chill him out. Although, turns out, the kid CAN solo. He's got fast hands.
The drummer's got great time and when these kids jam out, I get it. Had I bought a ticket, I'd probably be miffed, but since I didn't, I'm kind of just over it.
Finally, The Heavy Pets took the stage. It was formulaic: lay down something, sing, jam the fuck out. What feels right about it all is the funky keyboard lines, the bass...
The major difference here is, I feel like THP understands theoretically the music that they're writing...they understand the genres from which they're pulling influence.
One tune (I apologize for not knowing the title of) was sung by the man on keys. That tune was gold. It was bluesy and wonderful and memorable. I kind of want to scour their discography to figure out what it was called...
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