Silent Weapons & Bang! Bang! @ The Milestone

I was planning to write about this long ago. Really, I was. Sarah bitched at me last night for slacking off on my quickness tho, so I'm trying to make up for lost time. Now it's one month later, and I hardly remember what happened. I do recall being pretty psyched to be at The Milestone again. And pretty ashamed for not being there more often. But I was also pretty psyched to see The Silent Weapons play in a place with good sound. Sadly I've got no audio/video from that night... I tried, but the lighting was so freaking low that making videos was just silly. And yeah, so I really don't remember any details past what I just said. Dammit. It must be the drugs. So, I guess mostly, here are some photos from their set.
The one in the middle is my favorite. But it only beats out the one above b/c Jason is standing in front of Josh.
Uhm... and I just poured the Rum & Sprite I was drinking into a clear class. I think I forgot the Sprite.
	Allison also had recently dyed her hair purple. This photo got me kind of famous. myspace default photo famous. And, dammit, I hope that I actually took it and not Sarah and that I'm not just forgetting yet another thing. Regardless. The purple was sweet. Then this other thing happened... later...
As is often the case with shows in Charlotte, the crowd was, sadly, rather sparse. I suppose it's slightly understandable this time as it was a Tuesday night. With a new band from Charlotte and a band from Chicago. I really wish I'd had some recording of the show, cuz this was absolutely the best the actual sound has been. I like being able to hear Eliza sing. I think she looks great, but, ugh, I ALWAYS just want to hear her better. It was much much much better at The Milestone than I've heard it before. Given, of course, I've only heard them at SK Net and the Bucket Shop (which is now NOTORIOUS for shitty mics...), but still. I do recall being glad that the levels sounded better and that I could hear Eliza. Dammit, I wish I could remember more better. I do know that I often feel that I'm just waiting for a wall to come down when I get to see TSW play. I really like what I hear, but I just have this feeling that it could *sound* so much better. It'll get there. The songs are really fucking good, and everything happening on stage is pretty sweet. (and, damn, Josh knows his way around the equipment on stage.) Anyway. It's good. But totally has a lot of room to get better. A lot of very fillable room. It'll get there. And it's great fun to watch it progress. Also, I'm eating Cheetos. mmm. But the other reason that the lack of bodies on the floor was sad was b/c this random band from Chicago called Bang! Bang! was actually really fucking cool.
But before I get that, here's the last photo. Of Eston. Because he's completely a diva and would be pissed if I didn't post. Well... not pissed. I've seen Eston pissed. I don't think I've quite gotten that far on his bad side yet. <3 Eston.
From what I've heard since, Bang! Bang! is actually quite the popular band up Chicago way. They've certainly got more friends than filboyd studge... The lighting came on for this show, and I probably should have recorded something, but I had no idea what to expect, so I just listened and watched instead. What a novel idea. It was this kind of punk/pop thing that leaned more towards the whole punk thing instead. And I thought it was really badass. If I wasn't so poor, I definitely would have bought a CD. (speaking of which, why the hell aren't Silent Weapons CD's for sale at shows??) Anyway. I kind of think this is the kind of thing that I might get tired of if I were to try to listen to it for an extended period of time. Not that that makes it less good... just not exactly what I'm looking for long term. For a random discovery as a band that happens to be playing with another band that I like? Wow. Maybe one of the best one of THOSE bands I've heard in a long long time. They had a really good stage presence too. Cuz it completely seemed like they were just having a great time. I don't think I've ever heard a cymbol solo before either... And the guitar string broke, so we got the Flying V. And it all happened like everyone there were just friends having fun. the fact that I recall that may or may not have anything to do with something I find missing in day-to-day life. Hm. Although I'm getting old and boring and bald and rarely venture outside the safe confines of my apartment to discover anything unknown, I'll keep my eye on this band... maybe they'll play somewhere near a stop of the new light rail. Or, hell, maybe they'll come back and play with The Silent Weapons again. I really liked it.
Jack Flash Jason, dude! You're always in the way!	Gretta Fine	Nick Kraska
Although Holster was actually headlining the show I, yet again, missed their set. Allison had to work early, so we took off after Bang! Bang! had finished up. But the end of their set certainly worked out for the end of the show. I know there's a video of this whole thing floating around somewhere b/c the guy next to me was holding his phone up recording it all. I don't really remember exactly how it happened but they, somehow, managed to get all the prettiest people in the crowd up on the stage for a nice little dance party to send things out. Of course I didn't join, cuz I didn't want to make anyone feel bad. With my skillz. But that's good for everyone else who is a dude b/c it means that I have a couple of photos. So there's that. And there's my awful awful words that are simply here to fill space b/c I have these pictures, and I didn't want to do nothing with them.

Silent Weapons @ sk Net

Silent Weapons (with Holster) 03 November 2007 sk Net Cafe - Charlotte, NC
Finally made it out to see Eston's newly acquired musical home in concert the other day. Biased tho I may be, I was pleasantly surprised. I got there kind of late and missed most of the first set by Holster... I'd never heard them before either, so I wasn't overly worried. But I kind of liked them as well. The lead singer was fun to watch and, for some reason, reminded me of David Byrne. I have no basis for that... it's just what I thought of when I was watching. I only had a couple of photos... neither were that great... but they're here for the taking or viewing or whatever. They're playing again next Tuesday at the Milestone, and I'm not at all unhappy about seeing them again. Perhaps I'll have more of a real opinion then. The only thing that I had time about which to be annoyed was the muddiness of the sound. At first I thought it was just the lead singer either not really belting it out or just being low in the mix... When Silent Weapons played, I felt like I was losing Eliza in the songs sometimes too. So I'm chalking that up to either sound problems or venue acoustics. Or lack thereof. Actually... you can't really have a lack of acoustics, can you? It's really a matter of quality as opposed to quantity.
But the only reason I went was to see Silent Weapons... I did catch that whole show. And, like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. I'd really only heard songs on myspace, and I don't really pay attention. I dunno why. I guess it's that stupid player with all it's controls locked down or the poor buffering... whatever... it's not talk-about-why-myspace-sucks time. Right... music.
From stage-right... Eston looking very pleased with himself.	Eliza trying to figure out just what, exactly, to do with that gun...	And Josh looking like he's doing that AC/DC kick-step across the stage thing. (he wasn't)
(perhaps I should say that I, obviously, used a lot of Photoshop lighting and red-eye effects to try and make these photos better...)
	Well... it didn't take her long to figure out what to do with it. Eston busted a string on, like, song 2. Idiot. His playing must be completely superfluous tho, as it didn't seem to affect the rest of the show. Hopefully he's learned his lesson now...
So. I like drums. There is, as you can see, no drummer in Silent Weapons. Which, is you watch the videos, you'll hear does not mean that there are no drums in Silent Weapons. Josh, as I understand it, programs the bass beats, and all the songs are played to backing tracks. On the one hand, it's really cool to be able to execute your songs basically the same way night-after-night. (I didn't hold it against The Helio Sequence) And I am kind of a sucker for the fusion of talent and technology. But, on the other hand, a drum track... Something about a real-live drumbeat is so much more comforting and emotional and raw than digital tracks. Not that I'm trying to get stuck on one minor thing. The tempos and beats that were there were groovy and entertaining. I just missed the sound of someone actually banging on something. And the sound issues... there was definitely some muddiness that pulled away from the show, but nothing I couldn't get over. Sometimes I just wanted to hear Eliza better, and I couldn't. I do think that both bands were just suffering from the acoustics of the venue. sk Net is a low-ceilinged, narrow, and long coffee bar. Not really the best place for big crisp sounds. The band itself seemed to be pretty tight and on with the backing tracks. At the very least, there weren't any major issues, and they sounded good. And like they were having fun. Well... Josh looked like he really wanted it to sound good. As Eston said, "Everyone listens to Josh but watches me." Makes sense. I'm going to steer away from making any sort of comparissions. At this point, I'd end up saying they sounded a bit like the Rockfords, but I think I'd take that back in an hour. The song-writing was pretty catchy and hooky tho, and I don't recall being bored. I didn't record the whole show this time, and it's actually been a while since I've tried to write about something I didn't have recorded. Strange that it matters. But my memory sucks. The two videos I got were decent and, I think, a pretty good representation of the show. There are definitely two distinct moods in the songs... the slower spacey kind of thing and then the more punk/pop kind of song to which I am more partial. Except for if I'm home alone lost in a project. Or really sad. Or on tons of drugs, perhaps. But I digress. What else? ...The lighting was actually really neat. Especially for such a small place. Basically, it was just cool that the lights were doing something other than shine. (cuz I'm pretty sure there wasn't anyone actually running lights.) Silent Weapons are playing with Holster at this next show too, and I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to go in having some kind of previous knowledge. Uhmmm... and, to be completely honest, I wasn't really struck by the uniqueness of either band at the time, so it'll be cool to get to listen a bit closer this time without everything just being "new." Dispite my earlier complaints... there are some good sounding songs on myspace... Silent Weapons on myspace Holster on myspace
To be fair about the uniqueness statement... and, really, everything I said... I definitely wasn't giving 100% of my attention to the stage cuz there were other people there with whom I could interact. These people. So that was mostly nice. Except for the universal annoyance of ever trying to interact with anyone ever at a concert. Or maybe that's just me.
Sarah	Judith	Shirin (and Sarah again)
And, dammit, I almost forgot this one. I jumped up on stage and took this from behind the band looking out. (obviously) I think it turned out to be pretty cool. That's Jason - Holster's bass player - standing in the middle. Isn't it sweet when bands stay to watch bands who perform later? Yes. Yes, it is.
ugh. I forgot this one too. Definitely the last photo this time...
And, lastly, the couple of videos I have from the show.

Femme Fatale

They did this well... figured I might as well toss it up here too... enjoy...

Don't much feel like commentating at the moment, but Raven and Judith sent me some pretty cool pictures... Thanks! :)
Ok... One comment... wtf is going on here. Also, I'm definitely not lost in the mood or something and playing with my eyes closed. Sometimes I have to blink. It happens.

filboyd studge @ the Bucket

Right. So Scott came into town this past weekend, and we knew what we were gonna do, by God. Get the band together. With Thomas filling in our rotating bass player slot. But then Thomas went to China of all places b/c he hates us. Moo Goo Gai Motherfucker. Or maybe that's Japanese. I don't know. Regardless, Eston said he'd take the job since we were the best band he'd ever heard...
Scott says my recall is fading... he might be right. I'm pretty sure that Allison and I started everything off... we played Aeroplane Over the Sea again for Scott and Raven. We really wanted to do it like Dustin, but we're not quite good enough. But it was still quite serviceable since Allison is such a good singstress. I bet there are pictures somewhere, but I don't have any... then Eston did his solo intro stuff to, you know, butter-up the crowd. The opener has to suck so that the headliner sounds awesomer. (Yes, open mic night can have a headliner... even if they play in the middle.)
	I can only imagine that Eston and Sarah are missing from this incredibly cute shouldabeenatriology set o' photos b/c Bryan doesn't know Sarah. Which is too bad. But so it goes. <---- me & Allison Scott and Raven ---->
But anyway... there weren't actually many photos on my camera of things that actually happened during the concert, and I don't feel like screen-cap'ing the video. So this is pretty much all I've got as far as still images go. I had to lighten them in Photoshop, but I like the red tint that was naturally there...
		heh... And Raven praying at the altar of studge.
		I'm feeling narcissistic today... I'm pretty sure these photos mean that I done good. Plus, it's almost like I'm smiling. And I really like that first one. For obvious reasons. It so totally makes it look like I'm not even anywhere close to going bald. Allison says I look like a child molester.
This here is the closest thing I have to a picture with everyone in it... You can barely see Sarah over Brian's left shoulder... Allison's hitting on Eston behind Scott and Brian, and Raven's trying to avoid the whole thing by keeping her eyes closed. I guess she's kind of like an ostrich that way. I guess I'm not in this picture... nor is Judith... nor is Bryan... I don't think I knew anyone else that was there tho. Except, of course, for Christy the lovely bartender.
Scott trying to look all academic after the show...	And then hanging with a friend who is unknown to me. I think this dude's name was Matt...?	And then there's this Raven girl. She lives in New York. On the morning of the show, she was in New York. On the afternoon of the show, she was in New York. An hour before the show, she was in North Carolina. Rad? Yes. That's pretty freakin' rad. I'm pretty sure this photo says, "Holy fuck, I am so freakin' happy to be at Jeff's Bucket Shop right now!" And I reckon that's Sarah and Eston there in the background again.
And this is Allison and Raven acting happy after the show even tho the only thing either of them really wants is for filboyd studge to never stop playing ever.
And I suppose that just leaves us with the last few obligatory band photos...
Well... and then, of course, the video of the whole thing that Bryan cooked up for us...
Right... and the mp3's... CD Cover   01 Aeroplane Over the Sea     02 Dirty Boulevard     03 The Extraordinary Audacity of Human Self-Realization     04 Flavored Wine     05 Bliss     06 Polly     07 Everyone I Know Is Leaving     08 Just Another Holiday     09 Octobersong     10 Guilt     11 Happy Flowers     12 Buffet Gruel