April 22, 2007
Gospel Music Association Meeting
A collection of Southern Gospel ladies and gents decided to make this time of year a gathering time for people singing in quartets and other ensembles to come together, mingle, fellowship, feast, and acknowledge one another's work with an annual award ceremony called "The Dove Awards." Sometime in the 80s a younger generation took this event, called it their own and GMA became a quasi-hip half-week of showcases and "schmoozing" that lives on to this day. While the "Schmooze" can be seen as a hypocritical dance of popularity-seeking vanity, it also encapsulates the simple "hanging out" and reuniting of old friends that live and work in different parts of the world. This shaking of the hands and hugging in the Renaissance Hotel lobby can all be seen from mistrusting eyes as superficial, there is actually geniune bonding and fellowship going on. It's people relating to people and there is actually some love floating around from hug to hug. It's not an intense "Polyphonic Spree concert" kind of emotional buzz, but a friendly atmosphere where the majority of the people are "plane-ing" on the same level as one another and catching up on old times.
I saw a few concerts last night at the Michael W. Smith launched Rocketown club. I pulled up in a compact white rental car (outfitted with an Auxillary port/connection in the stereo ... yeah!) and couldn't find a place to load in my "gear." No, I didn't have a 7-piece drumset, ampeg bass cabinet or Marshall stacks to bring in, but hey, they were HM Magazine banners and it was a legitimate "load-in." Haha. I got permission to park on the sidewalk, only to see an over-zealous parking lot attendant scream and curse at a family inside a car. A young couple had picked up their kid from a birthday party at the club/skatepark complex and was turning around in a pay-to-parking lot and were yelled at for being there. They were threatened to be towed, screams for "calling the police" were heard, and I saw a punch swung. It was sad. Several of us stood on the ramp leading up to the club, gawking. I remarked that we "were the true heroes," laughing over how useless and dumb we were to stand and watch, but it was compelling reality tv without the cameras. There were people closer by helping it not get out of hand, so I finally ducked into the club to hunt down The Golden Sounds and ex-Atticus Fault frontman Todd Evans, who works at the club's coffee bar. After getting my banner hung, finding some food, and grabbing a more legitimate parking place, I went in to catch some shows.
The first of a few highlights for me was a special treat. My old friend, Carey Womack, who helped start my Christian rock collection grow by turning me on to bands like Jerusalem, The Daniel Band, Rick Cua, Daniel Amos and the Lifters, was also known to front the Christian punk band One Bad Pig. Turns out I was able to set Carey up with his current wife a long time ago by passing on a message from Sarah to Carey that this girl liked him. He picked it up from there and has gone on to start a family out near Memphis, TN, where he pastors a small church. His kids, who I first met as tiny lil' chillen's back in the early 90s, have grown up and learned to play. Silouhette A.D. is their name and they are managed by another friend, whose daughter plays drums. Turns out my friend plays guitar in this all-girl band, too. While she is the mother of one of the band members, she doesn't look her age and she avoids the front of the stage, prefering to keep her back turned and keep time with fast and crunchy guitars in time with her daughter, who is an amazing and tight drummer. This band of grown up baby girls can hang with about any band, churning out a black/death metal sound that's long on heaviness and dual shrill/growling vocals. It's just a wild trip to see kids of friends grow into this role. They rocked the small room with a legitimate metal power. Friendship connections and all-girl identities aside, this band brings the metal with teeth and passion. The second-to-last song of the set had a real haunting, epic keyboard vibe to it that was all Norweigan black metal and beautifully powerful. The last song was a cool scream-along called "Set This Heart On Fire."
Shortly after this set another all-girl band took the larger stage in the bigger room of Rocketown, which also had a superior sound mix. Ilia is a metal band that's cool, heavy, solid and full-sounding. A weak guitar solo was the only marr on this impressive set.
Later on a nu-metal-ish band called Oath played on the big stage, and they successfully dial in that arena Ozzfest metal guitar tone to good effect. The song "The Fear" shows off the vocalists range, which is accented by punching high notes. At times they sound real melodic, kinda like a heavier Anberlin. Very hook-laden. Other times they sound dynamic, a la System Of A Down. They have the muscle and power of a big league metal band, and it's always good to hear that quality amidst a showcase of varying talented independent artists. I had to compliment the soundman in this big room, because everytime I walked in, the sound was always good.
The final band of the night (I think) was the reunion comeback of a world class metal band from the past. I had to see this performance just to see if they still had "it." Yes, indeed, Bloodgood took the stage with bright-sounding guitars cutting through the air and the rhythm section of Michael Bloodgood and drummer Mark Welling was right on. Les Carlsen's vocals sounded really good, and he still shows off that operatic vibrato. The band really sounded good, like they had life and energy in their veins. Having two guitarists -- in Paul Jackson and Oz Fox, made the sound never drop out. The energetic leads and fills were thrilling to hear, as they were played with feeling and precise skill. A worthy blast from the past. They played the following songs: "S.O.S" which featured a short deviation into "To Hell With The Devil" for a short bridge, then a brand new song, then the legendary "Crucify/Messiah," then "Seven," which included a brief tip of the hat to "Purple Haze" in one lead by Oz, then "Holy Fire" and "Black Snake." Like in the past, Les ended the night by encouraging everyone, "Don't forget to say your prayers!"
Classic.
Even though the rules state that you only see a band perform once at a function like this, so you can use your limited time to see some of the other many bands scheduled to play, I plan on catching Bloodgood's set this afternoon, which is reported to be featuring a third guitarist to the bill -- original six-stringer David Zaffiro. That will be fun.