Mushroomhead, Tenafly Viper, Mercy Brown – June 3, 2012
The opening band, Mercy Brown http://mercybrownspokane.bandcamp.com/ from Spokane has true potential. I was enjoying the energy/interaction of the band and the band only. The drummer was the key to that band. He had a smile on his face and played with passion. The riffs were intriguing and I liked the moody Black-Sabbath-esque feel before things went nuts. What they lack is a voice to tie it all together. The female lead vocal on stage paced back and forth like Joon Pearl off her meds. Don’t get me too wrong here…she was easy on the eyes and if she had any stage presence, a look, and some interaction with the audience, perhaps her vocal could stay.
Tenafly Viper https://www.facebook.com/TenaflyViper was the second band and are members of Mushroomhead, then add the whiskey. A Hellyeah vibe…but much more subdued on stage. The band members looked bored. The lead singer, Waylon loves to talk and that’s fine..he had moments but it’s all about the music and if you like Waylon’s voice, you like Mushroomhead then this may be the band for you. I do wish to hear the actual album after seeing the show.
Mushroomhead http://www.mushroomhead.com/main/ was as expected terrific. Do keep in mind that this was supposed to be part of the Head2Head tour with American Head Charge http://www.headcharge.com/ , a band that has returned after a long hiatus that deserves to be one of the greats in the hard rock and heavy metal circles. I do not know what happened but nonetheless, Mushroomhead played a great set, bringing the classics and the latest songs off their stellar album Beautiful Songs For Ugly Children. Check out this clip to get a taste of what the show was like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlAW7BEPSv4 .
Moments – I have a special little nook where I like to stand during all shows at the Knitting Factory in Spokane, WA. This particular show was nowhere near sold out so I had room to maneuver to a different vantage point. I chose center floor, just outside the pit. It had been quite a while since I had stood that close to a pit and there were moments where I probably should have stayed in my regular spot. Bodies, fists, feet and items get thrown frequently when that close to the action. Case in point, the pit is in full force and bodies are smashing into one another like bumper cars with no seatbelt. Even within the loudness of the music, with earplugs in, I hear this snap in front of me and the sweaty silhouette just a few feet in front of me is spewing blood from his face like Jason Vorhees had just opened him with a machete. A moment to focus and you can see his nose is spewing and he’s quickly rushed off to the floor. Fellow moshers try to keep other moshers from stepping in the drips that have fallen to the floor, overall to no avail. A staff member finally comes with a towel to wipe up the fun. I share this moment because even though I have seen a lot of heavy shows, it had simply been a while since I saw someone so bloodied up from dancing. It warmed my heart to be so close to the action again, I couldn’t help but smile.
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