How many of you reading this go out to see a band that you’ve never seen or heard of before? I do it quite often. Sometimes it’s not that cool, but other times I have a blast. July 12th at The What’s Up Lounge ended up being a blast. 4 fun bands and people having a great time listening to fun and interesting music. I think that’s really what it’s all about in the end. I just wish more people had the same attitude.
There were a few people at The What’s Up when I got there, but nothing close to the night before. I arrived a little late as I was finishing up my article and photos from the night before. There was a handful of people, but as the night went on, I realized that most of them were in the bands playing that night.
The show went on anyway. J.I.M. was already into their set when I got there. Pretty interesting band actually, though we never got to find out what the masks were for, (you should have been there). The singer and one other person had sound boards in front of them and they would take time to make strange, warped noises with them during each song. There wasn’t very much singing and their set was short, maybe 4-5 songs, but J.I.M. held my interest with their stage performance.
The next band, Ca$ual, was also pretty interesting. They played under the red lights the entire set and this was more of a screaming style of singing. The drummer and the bassist took turns singing, which I always think is cool since drumming is hard enough, let alone singing during it. After I got my photos, I stepped back and took a listen to them. There was something that seemed familiar in their music and it took me a while to place it. Kind of reminded me of early Suicidal Tendencies with their tempo changes and rhythmic style. Either way, Ca$ual was, as one person in the crowd said, anything but casual.
The Stone Eye went on next even though I though they were the headliner. It took me a second to realize it, but luckily I had listened to them and Kill Palace while editing so I knew the lineup changed. They goofed around during the sound check and continued the fun throughout their set. They certainly put a ton of energy into their performance even though there wasn’t too many people there. The Stone Eye reminded me of the days of Alice and Chains and other bands of that time and I really enjoyed watching and listening to them live and asking if everyone liked their accent. They also threw in a few Minnesota phrases while joking around! I hope that The Stone Eye will make the trek back to Minnesota again soon!
Finally, Kill Palace went up to close out the show. By this point, it was a handful of people in the crowd that weren’t a band member. The fun style that Kill Palace demonstrated though made those that were there have a great time. They were moshing in their small group and tried stage diving even though it was a group of people holding one person up and walking backwards! Kill Palace had a bunch of fun and easy to dance to songs, but they certainly didn’t lack in energy. It seemed to spill over the crowd and they couldn’t help but have a fun time. Kill Palace finished out the show perfectly!
As always, get out and support live performances! I’ll see you out there!
