SEASON TO RISK -Upstairs at Nick's
Well the fellas from Kansas City were back in Phily for one more night.
The stormtroopers of dissonance
were on parade and ready to rock.
This was to be the fourth to the last show on their long tour of these
Great United States supporting their
third major release, Men are Monkeys, Robots Win on Thick Records.
Duane, guitar, was not wielding his
usual Gibson SG, but some strange instrument with one really big knob.
Steve, vocals and guitar, had his usual guitar and smiling angst on
display. And for once in S2R's history
the bass and drums are the same for the live performance as they were
for the record. Josh's, bleached
blonde hair has been died black. And David had to borrow Buzzoven's
cymbals because his cymbal bag
was lying somewhere in an alley way in NYC. But phased was not he as the
blonde beat machine marched
on adding notes and pulses where they just shouldn't be.
S2R started off the night a bit sluggish, the effects of a long road
stint showing on their faces, but about
two or three songs into the gig, the electricity and charisma was just
propelling itself towards the
dumbfounded crowd.
The set consisted of a perfect mix of new stuff and old stuff. In fact
even thrown into the mix was the one
song I had been waiting three years to see live, Dawgs (off of their 1st
Columbia release). S2R dove right
into the intro of Dawgs and never looked back. Man it was, to quote an
8th grader, "awesome."
The four pistons were in full steam driving our souls and minds to
another planet once again. They played
a slightly shortened set because of their position on the bill, but even
40-min. of S2R still makes a grown
man act like a child.
At the end of the performance, I caught up with Steve and Josh who were
perched over their refreshments
like two ravens. They both told me of how they drove from Arizona to
Seattle without brakes on their van.
I asked Steve if he could tell a little bit a bout the difference of
being on Thick as opposed to Columbia.
He said that he really enjoyed being on a label that cares about them.
It's more gratifying to be on a
smaller label who is willing to pay attention to a band rather than a
large label where numbers are the
only care they cast, said.
I also found Dave resting his hands and head a few stools down. He
explained the '23' conspiracy and it's
impact on the band and the past.
The fellas are back in KC by now, unless something serious happened to
their van. They are going to chill
for a while, but soon will start writing new stuff.
If you are lucky enough to have a record store that carries Men are
Monkeys, Robots Win, please count
your blessings, praise capitalism and buy the record. It's well worth
it.
And keep a sharp eye out for the next time S2R blasts into town.
Written By: Geoff T.
