Date: January 30, 2010
Venue: Red 7, Austin TX
Bands: Desmortes, Suicide Solution, Drifter
Venue: Red 7, Austin TX
Bands: Desmortes, Suicide Solution, Drifter
INTRO
Austin, TX. Live music capitol of the world. A year and a half prior, in the summer of twenty-odd-eight, Hexlust played two shows in this city, one at Headhunters, the other at The Parlor, then never went back again. Not that they were bad shows; we were well received by the not-metal crowd at The Parlor (and got a free pizza!), and Headhunters was cool in that we got to meet Billy Milano! It’s just that not long after the second Austin show (seven days actually) we played in San Antonio for the first time. In that first outing, we made some friends, discovered some really cool bands, and had a convenient place to stay after shows (which probably helped the most).
Austin, TX. Live music capitol of the world. A year and a half prior, in the summer of twenty-odd-eight, Hexlust played two shows in this city, one at Headhunters, the other at The Parlor, then never went back again. Not that they were bad shows; we were well received by the not-metal crowd at The Parlor (and got a free pizza!), and Headhunters was cool in that we got to meet Billy Milano! It’s just that not long after the second Austin show (seven days actually) we played in San Antonio for the first time. In that first outing, we made some friends, discovered some really cool bands, and had a convenient place to stay after shows (which probably helped the most).
Eighteen months later, an opportunity comes up to play with a band called Desmortes in Austin. Two of their members actually had some history with us; John and Rick (drums and guitar, respectively) had been in a band with Tony called Catholic Sodomy back in 2004, and John handled drums for a while in JT and Tarzan’s old band Nautilus.
Anywho, Desmortes invitee us to play with them, an Iron Maiden tribute band called Drifter, and an Ozzy cover band called Suicide Solution. We happily accepted and looked eagerly forward to our second stab at Austin.
PRE-SHOW
We all met and loaded up at my parents’ house instead of JT’s, since driving to Austin meant not having to go through Copperas Cove. I started off riding in Tarzan’s Jeep, but JT was alone in his vehicle and needed somebody to help watch his blind spots, which were obscured from his view by cabinets and guitar cases and whatnot. The reason I was picked for the job was that Tony was gonna stay with his girlfriend in Austin that evening, so he took his own truck. My parents were already on their way there, having not attended one of our shows since last April, and my high school buddy Branden was also en route from Houston with his girlfriend, whom I would be meeting for the first time.
We all met and loaded up at my parents’ house instead of JT’s, since driving to Austin meant not having to go through Copperas Cove. I started off riding in Tarzan’s Jeep, but JT was alone in his vehicle and needed somebody to help watch his blind spots, which were obscured from his view by cabinets and guitar cases and whatnot. The reason I was picked for the job was that Tony was gonna stay with his girlfriend in Austin that evening, so he took his own truck. My parents were already on their way there, having not attended one of our shows since last April, and my high school buddy Branden was also en route from Houston with his girlfriend, whom I would be meeting for the first time.
Upon arrival, we realized that there was no place in front of the club to park and load in our gear, so we went about paying for parking spots under the overpass right down the street. We walked back to the club and ran into Erika from Drifter, who took us back to the parking lot and worked out a deal with the dude in charge wherein we could leave our spots, unload, and come back with our spots untaken. We took the vehicles back to the club, got our stuff out with the help of my dad and Branden, re-parked the vehicles under the overpass, and walked back again.
The Red 7, during the summertime, would have been an awesome place to play. There was no actual front door, just kind of a… front porch-type area where the door-worker was positioned, which led right into the club proper, allowing for an outdoor-venue kind of feeling. Again, awesome in the summer. Unfortunately, it was January, and boy was it cold. The presence of walls shielded us from the wind, but that didn’t stop the temperature from being low. Anyway, there was a bar, a decently sized stage, enough room offstage for pre-performance gear storage, and booths in which to sit. And sit I did!
I talked mainly with Branden and his girlfriend, although I use the term “talked” very liberally since I suck at meeting new people and tend to get very shy and not-talkative. Thankfully, she was very outgoing and kept the conversation going. As it happened, a few of our friends from Heavens Declare War also happened to be in Austin this evening; Tarzan and JT mainly chatted them up while Tony played the role of social butterfly, flitting about to different groups of people and talking for a while before moving on again.
After a long while of that nonsense, Desmortes soundchecked, and then… nothing happened. There was another fifteen-minute wait before the actual show started, even though it was, by then, the time at which the show was actually scheduled to start. Since I’m the kind of guy who likes to give the benefit of the doubt, I’m willing to believe the sound guys needed that time to work some technical issue out.
DESMORTES
For a band that didn’t have a bass player at the time, Desmortes had a really good groove going on. It was mostly mid-tempo stuff, with lots of guitar harmony going on. John’s drumming was solid, nothing too flashy yet not boring either, with some cool fills thrown in on his huge-ass toms. The singer really impressed me, this dude had a great range for power metal-type vocals and a very… positive stage presence, he never seemed to stop smiling!.
For a band that didn’t have a bass player at the time, Desmortes had a really good groove going on. It was mostly mid-tempo stuff, with lots of guitar harmony going on. John’s drumming was solid, nothing too flashy yet not boring either, with some cool fills thrown in on his huge-ass toms. The singer really impressed me, this dude had a great range for power metal-type vocals and a very… positive stage presence, he never seemed to stop smiling!.
It was really cool to finally see Rick play live; the only problem was that I could see him, but I couldn’t really hear him. The mix started out pushing both guitars equally, but either because of PA weirdness or Rick’s own amp, by the set’s end he was considerably quieter compared to the other guitarist, Byron. Oh well, I still got to hear the man play, and I was not disappointed.
HEXLUST
A considerable crowd had gathered during Desmortes’ set, and they were an energetic bunch, cheering after every song and throwing up horns and whatnot. As we were taking the stage, I knew this return show would have one of two outcomes. We were either gonna get mass movement and enthusiastic applause, or befuddled expressions and the “slow clap.” I was mulling over this so hard I neglected to fully tighten one or two things in my kit. (Dun dun DUNNNN!)
A considerable crowd had gathered during Desmortes’ set, and they were an energetic bunch, cheering after every song and throwing up horns and whatnot. As we were taking the stage, I knew this return show would have one of two outcomes. We were either gonna get mass movement and enthusiastic applause, or befuddled expressions and the “slow clap.” I was mulling over this so hard I neglected to fully tighten one or two things in my kit. (Dun dun DUNNNN!)
Right from the intro song, we had the audience groovin’ and cheerin’. Tony’s confidence was still a little shakey, but I knew that after this great start it had nowhere to go but up. “Toxic High” came out phenomenal, probably the fastest and most precisely we’ve played that song in a live setting up to this point (Due to it being “the warm-up song,” one of us, usually me, gets a little sloppy occasionally.) The energy carried over into “Hellhammer,” when I started noticing something funny going on. My kick pedal felt a little floppy. No worries there, at least it wasn’t coming fully off. When we finished the song, I had Tony stall a little bit while I clamped the thing down extra tight. Good to go, right?
Wrong-o. I solved the tightness issue, yes, but I neglected to move it back into position before tightening it. Instead of having a strong grip on the drum hoop, the pedal had a fingertip hold on the very edge of the hoop, resulting in my kick pedal flopping around as I stomped it. A lot. During “Baphomet Dawn.” The SEVEN MINUTE LONG song! I’m not sure how the pedal made it all the way through that tune without just giving up and letting go, but it did.
After the final tom slam, I called another break, hoping Tony had enough confidence worked up to keep the crowd entertained. I telepathically suggested he pull out the “selling a chicken to a deaf guy” joke as I set about loosening, moving, centering, and re-tightening the pedal at both points. I made absolutely sure the thing was fastened and good to go, and signaled Tony. Good thing, too, because I have learned from past experience that playing “Open Casket” with a dodgy pedal is just asking for heartache. We pulled that song off and went into “Tombs” going full speed ahead. We recently decided to make this song our finale since we weren’t doing “Sodomy” on a regular basis anymore. As always, "Tombs" was the song on which we played the fastest and had the best stinger, during which I did a little drum solo. We finished the set to huge applause and smiles on our faces.
SUICIDE SOLUTION
The gear was broken down, but loading it up would require bringing the vehicles back to the club, in which case we would be screwed out of a parking spot. We opted to leave the stuff safely tucked away by the stage and got to see the bulk of Suicide Solution’s set. I'm not the biggest Ozzy fan or the most knowledgeable of his career, but I was very excited to hear such favorites as “Over the Mountain,” “Flying High Again,” and “Bark At The Moon.” I think they also played “Believer,” come to think of it. Dudes didn’t play “Shot in the Dark,” though, which made me a sad panda.
The gear was broken down, but loading it up would require bringing the vehicles back to the club, in which case we would be screwed out of a parking spot. We opted to leave the stuff safely tucked away by the stage and got to see the bulk of Suicide Solution’s set. I'm not the biggest Ozzy fan or the most knowledgeable of his career, but I was very excited to hear such favorites as “Over the Mountain,” “Flying High Again,” and “Bark At The Moon.” I think they also played “Believer,” come to think of it. Dudes didn’t play “Shot in the Dark,” though, which made me a sad panda.
I was able to overlook the absence of my favorite Ozzy tune, though, because the songs were performed so damn well! The singer went to great lengths to emulate Ozzy’s vocals and even his stage mannerisms, being all slightly hunched over and doing that retarded jumping-and-clapping thing. The guitarist pulled off all the awesome riffery and solos and made ‘em look easy. The drummer had a spiffy shiny kit and held a tight groove while throwing in a few awesome fills here and there, including an impressive display during a stinger. The bass player… looked like Nikki Sixx! The hair, the painted fingernails, even the way he held and played his bass, totally Sixx! My mom, however, held the belief that the dude looked more like Richie Sambora.
DRIFTER
Totally did not get to see Drifter play. Towards the end of Suicide Solution, we were itchin’ to get our gear stored away, which would of course mean abandoning our coveted parking spots and just going ahead on home. Neither of us was too sore with that idea, except for Tarzan, who really wanted to see Drifter. He even suggested that he and I just wait til after the set and make a bunch of trips to take my kit to his Jeep a little bit at a time, which was just a bad idea. That would have been a very long process, at an even later time, in even lower temperatures.
Totally did not get to see Drifter play. Towards the end of Suicide Solution, we were itchin’ to get our gear stored away, which would of course mean abandoning our coveted parking spots and just going ahead on home. Neither of us was too sore with that idea, except for Tarzan, who really wanted to see Drifter. He even suggested that he and I just wait til after the set and make a bunch of trips to take my kit to his Jeep a little bit at a time, which was just a bad idea. That would have been a very long process, at an even later time, in even lower temperatures.
Half hour later, we were bound for home, with Tarzan not very happy with the turn of events but thankfully understanding my unease about my equipment being out in the open. After all, I'm sure this won't be the last time we get to play with Drifter, and maybe if it happens again, I'll have actual storage devices for my kit that will facilitate faster loading no matter how far away we're parked. Here's lookin forward to it!
