Ding Dong Lounge (13/5)

A quiet Wednesday night mid-may. What to do, what to do. With a lack of any decent gigs around, we decided to do something that rarely provides any real gain. In the past this action has almost crushed my soul, destroying everything I love about live music. One time in February I almost threw in the towel, even that early in the game. I'm talking, of course, about seeing a bunch of bands we've never heard of. 

Ding Dong Lounge

After a big dinner of dumplings in soup, we headed to Ding Dong (via a bar or two on the way)... as usual, I was one of the first people there. While it's great to have a full selection of comfortable booths and couches, there's something very unsettling about being in a near empty bar... especially with the 'Holier-than-thou' attitude of some of the bar staff. But a jug of cheap beer soon cures any uncomfortableness, and the first band jumps on stage. Well, they didn't jump... more of a small step. There may have been a moment when both feet were off the ground though, so it could be a jump. But that may have only been one or two members, not the whole band. So the band didn't really jump onto the stage at all. 

The Day Late

Named after an unfortunate 'breakage' mishap and the resulting anxiousness of the bassists girlfriend (I made that up), The Day Late sound like Dream Theater. Lots of bass that sort of makes a warble sound, and cool 8-bit sounding keyboards. Unfortunately, Dream Theater have about 25 years experience on these guys, so they can get away with it. They weren't totally horrible, but I just couldn't wait for the keyboard to go into some nuts solo, but it just didn't happen.  Also, the vocals were kind of Butterfly Effectish. Which I really don't appreciate. Here's a picture of the band when they went to the Basketball once and they stayed behind until after the cleaners went home. 

 

Forgiven Rival

I kind of like the Spun Rivals. They were a fun band that we saw early in the 100 gigs. So, using my strange logic which does nothing but disappoint in the long run, I presumed I'd like any band with Rival in the name. Like how I like both LCD and Sneaky Soundsystems. How wrong I was/am. Screamo is a poor excuse for music, and a poor excuse for a name of a genre. The songs generally have shitty screaming verses, and nice shitty singing choruses. Sometimes they go wacky and do it the other way. There is generally no solos. It's like Heavy Metal lite. Forgiven Rival performed it perfectly. And I hated every moment. Boring, no spontaneity. Yuk. Here's a picture of them looking serious. Actually screw it... here's a better picture. 

Addison

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse.... it got remarkably better! No, I lied, it got worse. Addison really didn't have a lot going for them. Bad name. Bad Haircuts. Screamo. From New Zealand. The singer pulled down the roof, which was entertaining for a second, but then thanked everyone for loving Jesus. Suddenly their by the books 'hardcore' performance with a distinct lack of passion made a lot more sense. I have no problems with Christians. But I do have problems when their boring bands invade my fun venues. Give me an interesting Christian band and I will take a vow of celibacy. At least then I'll have an excuse. 

 I looked around at the big posters of Beasts of Bourbon, Iggy Pop and Black Flag and was sad. Tex, Iggy and Henry must be rolling over in their graves. The set finished after 4 songs, maybe somehow reading my mind so I could go home and wash myself off with goats blood. In the words of my best friend the bouncer, 'Shortest show I've ever seen here'. Here is picture that comes up when you GIS Addison. Far more interesting than the band.