- One Track Mind, TwentyOneRest, F.O.N., Swindle, Underminded -
~ Grand Re-Opening Show ~
So, let's see where to begin.. Hmm. Ok, so Erin stops by my house at like 4:15PM and picks me up. We're talking about a lot of stupid stuff, people we know, stuff like that, and then we drive down there. Her friend Jen was supposed to come with us, but flaked, no biggie. And, Cole, this guy that Erin works with, was going to meet us down there. Oh, but before we made it on the freeway, we had to stop and get Red Bull, gas and oil. So, we're at the gas station, getting gas, and I go in and get my four Red Bull; TwentyOneRest tradition. And, I ended up drinking all four within the course of maybe fifteen minutes.. Not good for you on and empty stomach, let me tell you. No worries. Anyway, we finally get on the freeway, and we're busting out some Eminem from the 8 Mile soundtrack, and then we put in our "21Rest Shows" CD, which has all of these ritualistic songs that we listen to on our way to TwentyOneRest shows. Good times. Then, there was traffic just after the 5-805 split.. Bah. But, we were early. The show started at 7pm, TwentyOneRest wasn't going to be on until 8:30, and it was only 5:30, so we were good.
We eventually made it down there, sometime after listening to some Moulin Rouge and getting lost. You see, we were driving down there, and the directions that I had said to take Camino Del Rio to Sports Arena Blvd, well that was wrong. You should just take Rosecrans (the exit from the I5), and just turn onto Sports Arena Blvd. Stupid directions. So, we had to make this u-turn, and we cut off this hott guys driving this truck, and we were listening to 'Without Me' by Eminem and being all stupid so the people around us thought we were stoned or something. It was great. Then, we finally make it onto Sports Arena Blvd. and I thought SOMA was on the left side of the street, so we're looking over there and driving aorund, and we ended up begin Mervyn's or something, and it was funny. So, we turn around and start driving through the parking lot and Erin sees SOMA and starts yelling, "I see it! I see it! SOMA! SOMA! SOMA!" It was REALLY funny.
We finally end up at SOMA, on the RIGHT side of the street, (note for future refference), and I started pacing because I couldn't stand still. And, then I saw an Acura's headlights. At first I thought it was Weston, but it wasn't, so I went back to pacing. Erin had to pee, she kept on complaining, and then she started getting mad at me for pacing because it was making her pace. It was funny. But, then I saw another Acura's headlights, and it was Weston. He was circling the parking lot, and on his cell phone, but he waved nonetheless, it was kinda funny. Oh well. Cole called Erin's cell phone, to confirm directions, and we told him the new info we figured out on our way down here. It took Cole 20min. to get from Carlsbad to SOMA. Ridiculous. He floored it, but he's got a Celica, so it's ok. Then, Sean showed up, and his dreads were pulled back so his head looked like a ficus, it was hilarious. But, then Sean, Weston, Brant, and I think Mike Whittaker, (the guy that doesn't like me a.k.a. Fat Mike), left in Sean's car. It was slightly peculiar, because it was like "Where's the band going?" But, then Cole showed up.
We went to standing in line, that was riviting. I was still fidgety, I couldn't stand still. Red Bull is bad for you, but I did eat some carrots. Yay for carrots! Anyway, and I hit Cole in the face with my piece of paper, and he said I "assalted" him. LoL. And, he was like "then Cole got a massive papercut on his right cheek". It was funny. Before the show when we were talking to him on the phone he was saying how he was going to wear a loincloth, and it had to be 'extra long' to keep him all covered, but he didn't wear a loincloth, so I was trying to stick my hand down his pants to see if he was lying or not, but he wouldn't let me. I think he was lying. So sad. He was all scared of the movie "The Ring" too. He said the lights in his house went off or something, and he busted out his knife and was all freaked. I thought it was funny. He's been having nightmares for weeks.
So, we're still standing in line..
We wanted the doors to open, no luck. We tried to 'will' them open, all Yoda style, but it didn't work. The band still wasn't back yet, but they were on second, so we weren't particularly worried about it. Erin still had to pee, and she thought everyone should know. The guy in the bakery lit some candles. Cole started getting mad and was like "What the fuck is going on here" and then Erin started singing the song from Peter Pan the movie, 'What Makes the Red Man Red'. It was SO funny. But, then the doors opened, and we bought our tickets and told them we were there to see 21Rest, and we got to pee! Yay!
So, One Track Mind went on. Or no.. "One Track Fucking Mind" as the lead singer said.. Yay for them. They've played with 21Rest before, so it wasn't something unusual. The kids in the pit were skanking, but One Track Mind isn't a ska band, so it was kinda funny. The lead singer of One Track Mind was feeling himself through the second song they played, it was a little peculiar. He had on a shirt that said "I love oral sex". That was funny. Their set was good though, from what I could tell, but I don't really know One Track Mind very well so I can't really say much. The drummer ended up taking off his shirt and his pants. That was peculiar, but all of the girls loved it, so yay for them. Then, the kids in the pit ended up not even skaking anymore, they were just frolicking. It was really wierd. Kinda ghetto, but wierd. Later on, the lead singer was like "If girls didn't have tits we would throw rocks at them", before some song. That was random, but everyone cheered, so yay for the crowd. And, then the lead singer was moaning randomly, and for the last two songs they played there was a mad mosh pit. It was cool. Many shows don't have goot mosh pits, but there was an awesome pit at SOMA.
So, then One Track Mind was over. So sad. But, TwentyOneRest was on. So happy! Schmidt was putting up the banner, and it was great because they put the tape on the banner before they put it on the wall, so it actually stuck to the wall.. LoL. That only took four months. LoL. No worries. There was this girl next to me who was being all nosey, and was like, "I just HAVE to know what you're writing down". I just told her I did reveiws for the band, and she was like, "Well... uhh.. I love the band". Strange people at shows, but it takes all kinds, so it's good..
The guys started with 'Eating Tinfoil', and as Aaron was introducing the band Brant was already starting that heartbeat like beat in the beginning of the song. It sounded so cool. It pulled in the crowd so fast though, so everyone heard who they were. The drums were that dinner bell to the starving farmers of the pit, so everyone pulled in and payed attention at that instant, and then Aaron went on to say that they were TwentyOneRest, so everyone knew, there was no question. It was perfect. Aaron had on Sean's orange beanie, it was kinda funny. "You're living in a mindset" (at least that's what I think it was), had so much emotion. Since Erin, Cole and myself were right in front of Aaron, it was great. Aaron was so into it, he found that stage-presence that I was talking about. And, besides the fact that Erin was yelling "Stop living your life for someone else" at me, it was perfect. Simply perfect. The lighting was this trippy red.. I wonder if we brought our own gels and gobos if they'd let you use them.. Hmm..
'Moon-Calf Friend' came after that. Yay. Aaron was all up in his facials, and Schmidt was standing off to stage right. It was great. I noticed that Aaron got "TRUST" tatooed on his right wrist. It made me think, but that's a whole other story in itself, and has nothing to do with the band. So, anywhoo.. Aaron perfectly hit his high notes, it was beautiful. And, working the mic entirely, during the the last one on 'again'. Beautiful. He was playing a black guitar, I don't remember him ever having a black guitar, but that's cool. He had on this awesome green shirt though. It was green, then another shade of green, then black, then kinda blue, it wall iridescent like, so it was all of the colors at the same time. Yay for iridesence. It looked cool. Weston was actually singing into the mic.. He sometimes doesn't, so the harmonies were all perfect.. Funny thing though, Weston was wearing that blue shirt again, the one from the Cane's show and the last Scene show.. Maybe it's good luck. LoL. I don't know. Doesn't really matter. The song was perfect. The second one in the line-up of good times.
Shortly thereafter, the crowd started yelling about playing 'First Summer'. Wierd crowd. It's not going to happen, and if it does, it's not going to happen for a long time. Sheesh. So, Aaron was asking the crowd, "What do you want to hear", and then he'd start playing guitar, it was great. So, they fell into 'Know Me'. Aaron threw off the beanie, and Sean was all into his bass. It was cool. Weston was singing into the mic perfectly again, so the harmonies were awesome. The break was so awesome, the crowd was completely in the same zone as the band. At the line, before the break, "Alright stop", people were raising their hands to express the stop sign, it was cool. Then, the build up to the line "perfect man" was HUGE, seriously, but so awesome. Everything fell together in the most awesome display ever.
While Brant was messing with one of the mics for his drums, Sean took off his khaki shirt to reveal a short sleeved form fitting black shirt. Very hott I must say. Erin agreed. Cole didn't have anything to say. They went into 'Act of Accidents', a new song considering the 'public' hasn't really heard it. But, it's got this awesome bass intro, just bass and drums, makes you think of Led Zepplin, but it was very cool. VERY cool. The beginning was slow, and before it picked up, Aaron was like, "We love you San Diego", and the crowd cheered. It was great. All of them though, through the entire song, looked REALLY good. It's difficult to explain, they just looked good. Facials were awesome, body language, that feeling, it was like the music, the instruments, the vocals and their physical begins were all apart of one giant mass of feeling that could be seen. It was awesome. Weston was really into it, and Mike, (if it was Mike, if it wasn't, then.. that guy that was on stage taking pictures), was staring at Erin's boobs considering she had them precariously placed on the railing. Silly girl. Schmidty looked like the girl from 'Superstar', with his hands in his pits, fun times. Some strange girls to stage right were all headbashing, peculiar, but to each his own. Brant and Schmidt were carrying on some conversation, and at the end of the song Weston was all saying, "The first ever TwentyOneRest mosh pit, thanks to SOMA". The crowd cheered in agreement.
'Lightshow' usually doesn't have as much feeling as it should, or I guess as I think it should, when it's performed live. Maybe it's just that those days are bad days, or maybe the emotion that went into it when it was written isn't still felt when it's performed, I don't know. However, this night, 'Lightshow' was completelly beautiful. The emotion that rose out of each of them during 'Acts of Accidents' carried over into 'Lightshow' and it was simply beautiful. Erin pointed out that Aaron didn't have in his lip ring anymore. I don't know the story behind that, but she was right, it was gone. The two beat pause in the middle of the song was perfect. It was so clean, no haziness, just a perfect clean sound. I wanted to scream. That, and plus the chorus was awesome, SO much emotion. Sean was wandering around on stage right, and the pit attacked everyone in the front, which was funny in itself, and the feeling..
'Sorry' fell in line after that. Before the song started, Aaron was like "We've all been broken in some way.." and then started to play. Interesting. Aaron was way into his guitar though, it was like some Jimi Hendrix remix or something. First there was the mad Led Zepplin drums in 'Acts of Accidents', and then there was the mad feeling with the guitar, all Jimi Hendrix style during 'Sorry'. It was the best that they've ever played that song, seriously. Aaron accidentally dropped his guitar pick during one of his vocal solos, but it was ok because he wasn't playing guitar at that part. Thinking on your feet, he pulled another pick out of his pocket, it was perfect. I was completely enthused. The drums were still nuts, but it was great. Weston was all listening to his guitar, and Aaron's "I'm sorry" line.. It was complete perfect madness.
They had two songs left, 'Burn Purple' and 'Puddles', but they didn't have enough time to play 'Puddles', so they just played 'Burn Purple'. The stage presence was greater than it had ever been. SOMA just brings out the best in these boys, I must say. Weston was half turned toward center stage, his left shoulder toward Aaron's mic, with Sean's front directly facing Aaron's mic. It was awesome. Picture perfect placement. Matter of fact, I think Erin got a picture of it. (Hopefully). The harmonies were intense. The crowd pushed in closer toward the stage for the entire song, once Aaron threw out "Put your mind at ease".. It was so.. I don't know.. The entire song though seemed re-worked, the lyrics felt different. The song was still perfect, however it seemed different. Either way, Aaron's "Use my heart to see" (I think that's right), line was awesome. If you were watching his entire self for that one line, it was awesome. Weston was wearing this black baseball cap, and it was casting deep shadows across his face the entire song because of the lighting SOMA was using. And, there was this part in the song with this hard bass chord, thunder, completely compelling, it ruptured through you. It felt so cool. The ending though.. I hate good-byes, I hate ends to books, or movies, or to anything, but this ending.. To this song, to this show, to this night.. It left you with a unique sense of hope of something better was out there, something to come.. Indefectible.
Lately, maybe with the break in shows, they've been able to find what it is that it takes to be the best. Even if they haven't realized it, they're walking that line. The line that seperated the ordinary local bands from the best, from those who will make it and live from it in the end. The bands who make the impact, that leave you with those lasting impressions.. It's all slipping into place. Sure it was a hard puzzle to fit together, but now the pieces are finally making the picture that we all need to see. It's working. Nothing is better than where this is going, I just hope they follow that path. I just hope people realize what they're witnessing. I just hope they realize what they're creating. It's beautiful.
Before Erin and I left, I gave the band the money from CD sales, and my donation.. Heh.. Yea. I just hope it all goes to somthing productive. No drugs, no drinking, no all night parties.. Something productive.. Hopefully, the new CD will get recorded soon enough. The guys looked good, I just hope they stay that way. I hope.. I hope.. It's all going to work out in the end. :)