I went to a show a few weeks back at Circus. It was the final show for The Red Specials, and it's quite sad it's their last show, because this group in my own opinion, was one of the up and coming groups in Columbus. They were caught somewhere in between blues, folk rock, and some psychedelic universe.
Good thing for them, they're re-doing the band, which I can understand. They had a big group, and like most college bands, you graduate, you move on, and have the deal with the real world, and you lose bandmates so I can't wait to see what this new band may hold for us.
Fortunately, and unfortunately, we had to suffer through two late starting bands all the while looking outside watching snow grow higher and higher on the roof of our car.
There was one band that night that got me really excited about the Columbus Music scene once more.
A trio group called Stella. At first they might seem just like some terrible college, garage band, but the main guitarist and vocalist did some things to a guitar that made you go, Yeah, this alright, in fact, I think I kind of like it. One thing I didn't really care for was the fact that the main singer was just either nervous as hell, or trying way too damn hard to make the crowd like him. One thing that bugs me is when people want to talk and talk and talk about stupid stuff. I paid to hear music. PLAY! Talking time is for the bar. I could care less if you wrote this song during a hard time in your life, or if you enjoy pickled chicken feet.
- That won't deter me, though. I would definitely not hesitate to watch these guys again. I have a feeling we may seem them in Columbus Alive's upcoming bands in the near future.
- Their sounds were somewhere in between The Vines, and modest mouse, but sometimes you get the feel they could lean towards a Muse feel if they really tried. They've labeled themselves as a post punk/psychedelic band, and I think they nailed it on the head. The only songs they have at the moment are on their Myspace page, and they're pretty much just your typical demos recorded in someone's garage, but this is definitely a band you'll want to see live.
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Now, to the bad part of the evening. Trouble with Brownfield. Oh God-oh man, where do I start? This band screamed Yuppies nearing their mid life crisis. The sounds were somewhere near to the band Garbage meets some hippies along the road, but I won't give them the satisfaction of calling them even that good. The main female singer played some very lovely guitars. In fact, they're guitars you often fantasize in having and rocking out with.
- The main singer looked as if she had only had maybe a few months of guitar lessons, and could only play simple chords. She had no other un-ordinary, amazing techniques she could amuse the audience with other than, look at me, I'm a beautiful chick playing the gee-tar.
What really had me going WTF inside my head was some random girl, side singer who's job was to just stand there and go "OOooooooooooooo..." every once in a while. Other than that, she was nearly useless.
After the third song my husband and I just wanted it to end. No booze could save their sad attempt at a "jam" band.
- I think the thing that really killed it was that the main singer of course wanted to start talking, and said something along the lines of "Yeah, this is where I get to be me, because I work a BRUTAL 9-5 job in an office."
Yeah, totally BRUTAL. I'm sure most of the college kids in the facility can totally relate to that.
By the time Trouble with Brownfield left the stage it was nearly 1:30 in the morning, and I was already drifting into unconsciousness from boredom, so when the band of the night hit the stage we listened to around four of their songs before leaving, yawning the entire time on the drive home.
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P.S.- Red Special's main singer, yeah, I saw you at North Market the next day, and I know you saw me, because I totally saw you, and noticed you hadn't changed your outfit from the night before.
Rock on, brother.
