Concert Season 2013: Episode 2: Crüella

Throughout the first week of April, my co-worker had been gleefully advocating this show that would be playing on Saturday of that week. She really wanted me to go, and had all ready convinced my "lady friend" to come along. I was intrigued, but reluctant to commit since I wasn't a real fan of the music that was playing. You see, the main show's headliner was a cover band... for Motley Crüe.

True, it was an all-female band, and one of the big pushes from my friend was "Hot chicks in leather playing music with sexy lyrics. How can you NOT be interested?" Or something like that. It's not the fact that I didn't wanna see leather-clad ladies playing rock music... that's totally something I would see, especially when their musicianship is really good. I initially did not want to go because I just didn't know too many Motley Crüe songs. The only songs I knew were from Guitar Hero and Rock Band like "Shout at the Devil" or songs that are just out there because they're big hits like "Dr. Feelgood," "Kickstart My Heart,"  "Helter Skelter," and "Girls, Girls, Girls," (which I forgot they did when Crüella played it, but I'm skipping ahead.)

So obviously I went since I'm writing about the show. What changed my mind, you're probably not asking? I really needed to get outside. It was a lazy Saturday for me and my "lady friend," and if I didn't get out of my apartment while my "lady friend" was gone, I would have played video games until she came back. Normally, that would be just fine for me; it wouldn't be the first time I spent all day in my pajamas playing video games. Plus, I didn't even take a shower. Was I really going to go outside, mildly interacting with people, without having to take a shower? Well, yes, I did. Being alone in my apartment definitely has its pros, but one of the major cons in being by myself is that I sometimes go crazy. Not Patrick Bateman crazy, but crazy enough to where if I don't go outside, I'll go paranoid and think people are out to get me.

Yeah yeah, even I know that isn't likely, but it really does suck living so close to the sidewalk, being able to hear every single thing that goes outside, especially if it's right outside the building.On top of that, being right across the street from a gas station, with debris constantly landing right at my front doorstep, with assholes constantly dumping their garbage right outside the building without any sign of respect or common courtesy for anyone makes it hard for me to ignore the outside world. With that kind of shit going on in a daily basis, it's kinda hard not to go a little crazy. I can only tune out so much.

Wow, I went off on a tangent. So yeah, getting back to the subject at hand... I wanted to hang out with my friends so I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, combed my hair to where it looked somewhat decent, and got dressed. I wasn't proud of getting out of the house without showering, but hey, I was going to be at a rock show in a very small venue in the Mission... again. I was NOT going to be the only one at the concert with poor hygiene.

So long story short... too late!... my friend drives my "lady friend" and myself to the Mission, and circled around the place at least twice, looking for parking. If there's any sense of similarity between all the districts and neighborhoods in this City, it's that all of them are shit for parking. Eventually, we settle with the parking lot charging $20, because, to my friend, it was worth it since it was about ablock away from the place.

Fortunately for us, we get there before the show starts and get something to eat since my "lady friend" and I didn't have dinner. By the way, if you're ever at Bender's Bar and Grill on 18th and South Van Ness, get the tater tots. They were amazing. Sure, it might have been the fact that I didn't have something substantial to eat that they were so damn good, but whatever.

Unfortunately for me, however, the place was a small dive bar with just enough room for a band to play music and standing room for about thirty to fifty, maybe more if the bar area got packed. For me, this meant being surrounded by people, and since we didn't get there early enough, there was no open seating available. I was drinking water that night because I really didn't feel like drinking... though I would get a free drink here and there because I think my friend wanted me to loosen up. My neurotic ticks must have been pretty apparent that night. I took a couple of sips here and there and just passed them off to the other two.

The opening band was a Guns N' Roses tribute band called the Rocket Queens, or according to the logo on their drums, the "Rocket F'n Queens"... or was it the "F'n Rocket Queens"? Fuck, that's what happens when I'm three weeks late on a blog post... I start forgetting exact details.

Anyways, I label them as a tribute band because to me, they're different from a cover band, who merely just cover a band, either in the original style or in a different styling all together. A tribute band, however, goes out of their way to dress and act like the band they are covering, and more or less stick with the original style of the songs instead of putting their own flavor to the songs... at least that's my take on the difference.

So I don't know why they call themselves the Rocket Queens... I don't know if that's a GnR reference or just a cool name for a band. I thought they were okay for a cover band. Sure, there were songs I didn't know (despite knowing more GnR songs than Motley Crue... but not by much) and I either tuned out because I didn't know the songs or I was getting neurotically annoyed by people around me, but I sang along to "Sweet Child of Mine" and rocked out to "Welcome to the Jungle," (well, comparative to the subtle way I was rocking out earlier and later.) My co-worker, who was rocking out in the front like a fucking champion, said that the singer forgot some of the lyrics and mumbled or whatever to get pass the song. I didn't notice, but I wasn't looking face-to-face with the guy. I kinda thought the audio in the place wasn't that good when I was listening to them play, so I thought it was more technical, but about fifteen minutes later, I didn't hear any noticeable audio problems when Crüella played so I trust my friend's instincts.

So Crüella came out and played and I have to say, despite my mood, despite my lack of emotion and energy during their performance, they were really, really good and I dug it. On a technical level, they were excellent. I don't know if I was ever caught staring, but when I was actually staring, 90% of the time I was staring at their hands, focusing on how they were playing. Then again they were pretty attractive so okay, 80%. They played so well, that I actually wanted to listen to previous Motley Crüe albums, and got advice from my friend after the show.

Now you're probably wondering why I'm not naming names and calling my friend the "co-worker." Well, like I said, she was partying like a champion, rocking out to the music, and even danced on stage when Crüella invited some of the ladies to join them for "Girls, Girls, Girls." She didn't want her friend posting pictures on Facebook, even though I didn't see anything incredibly embarrassing. So out of respect, I chose not to name her by her real name.... but c'mon, we all know who it is! (Well... those who know my friend knows who it is, I should say.)

Anyways, while my friend was rocking out, I was situated against a partition maybe about fifteen feet away from her... or was it ten since that place is pretty small... with my "lady friend" by my side. I wanted to be close enough to my friend but away from the crowd to put my mind at ease. It didn't work. I don't know if it was obvious, like I said, that one guy chose to get really close to my back and sing loud into my ear (or more rationally, just singing to the music and the sound just traveled to my ear unintentionally) and got so irritated, I almost turned around and socked him in the face. It's a good thing I didn't, because he must have felt the "bad vibes" and went away.

Being so close to that crowd was probably a major factor why my enjoyment of the music was more internal, because while I enjoyed the music, I still felt uncomfortable. Would it have been any different, however, if it were a band that I was more familiar with? Would I have been rocking out like a champion and partying like a rockstar if it were a Nirvana/Queen/Weezer/Monkees/Smashing Pumpkins/Garbage/Hives cover band? Wow, I would totally want to be the frontman for that band if it existed.

Maybe. But then again, given my reactions to the concerts I were at in 2012, where I didn't sing along as much as I would have years ago, and didn't stand up until the encore for most shows, I don't even know. Have I become more subdued at these shows? Have I become to self-conscious that I don't want to be the asshole who almost ruins the show for me to someone else? Or am I just getting older? Well I don't know... my friend is older than me and has way more energy than I did so I don't know if age has anything to do with it.

I don't know... I'm not going to psychoanalyze my neurotic ticks any more than I all ready have. I just hope I can enjoy myself a little more freely at other concerts that are in my future this year. Overall, if you dig the Crüe, then Crüella is definitely worth checking out if they play at a small venue near you. If not, those ladies might change your mind about the original band. Because of them, I really dig "Too Young to Fall In Love," and I don't even remember if they played that. It altered my stereotypes of the 80s LA glam rock bands, especially the Crue, who I thought was all visual, and I can thank my friend for having more appreciation and some respect (just a little bit more) for that genre.

Concert Season 2013 Season Premiere: akai SKY, or "I'm With The Band"

So full disclosure... I'm going to be talking about my friends' band. I've always wanted to write about them, trying to come up with some subtle way to say I know them while praising them, saying I'm such a VIP that sometimes I can get "backstage" and hang out with them, sometimes eating lunch or dinner with them, but I can never come up with anything. That and I never wanted to write up something and then associate them with something negative that was beyond their control like an amateur K-pop dance troupe that had the look but did NOT have the moves for the two minutes they were on stage... or the creepy vendors that were hitting on the underaged girls at the convention they were playing at... or the convention itself who treated the musical performances as an afterthought, whether it be keeping the performances in a room with shitty acoustics, or a shitty PA system, or a shitty sound guy, or any other minor setback that has hindered bands from playing at their best.

Plus, it's always been hard to talk about it since I can never talk about it objectively, and I can rarely talk about their shows as a member of the audience since most of the time, I become either the "merch guy" or the "camera guy" or this time around, "the door guy." When you're the friend of a local band that doesn't have the professional setup that most major bands and venues have, you end up getting asked for help.  And me being the type of guy I am, more than likely I end up helping out whenever I see them play.

So I figured... why not write about my experience as cheap labor the cover charge guy (and maybe other times as merch guy/cameraman/photographer/grunt) as well as talk about the show.

So I think there's no better way to spend Easter than at a rock show. Church? HA! Fuck that. They never explain how Zombie Jesus turned into the Easter Bunny... or was it how the Easter Bunny fought Zombie Jesus with cocoa beans and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and hence why we celebrate Easter by eating chocolate and trying to find colored eggs. Yeah, I like that story better.

Plus, imagine Nicholas Hoult as Zombie Jesus...............

Wait, where was I? Oh yeah... rock show.

So my friend and I... errr... I mean the girl I'm dating and I... uhhh... does she become my girlfriend after a certain amount of time or is that something both parties have to agree on at the same time? Are labels really necessary in this world? I'm getting away from the point... sorry...

Anyways, we head over to my old stomping grounds -- the Mission -- a couple of hours early to help set up. After meeting up with another friend who came to help, I introduce my friend to Hayashi and Umi who wanted to meet her. They looked genuinely happy to see her, which was great to see.  After introductions, we got our first assignment: help set up the merch table. My "lady friend" -- quotations specifying difference from any of my other lady friends, because... well... you know -- offered to help, which made the job quicker.

After that, I got the "door guy" gig, being in charge of taking the cover charge and stamping hands. Now, to be honest, I don't like dealing with money. I do not prefer to be the guy in charge of buying tickets for a group or the guy gathering the money together after dinner at a restaurant. Occasionally I'll do it if I feel competent at that moment. This time around, I thought being the "door guy" was more like being the bouncer... but I was wrong. The initial rush of people, making sure I was getting their money and doing it quick enough, making sure if they were on the RSVP list, was kinda stressful, but after that, it did get easier. It did help that my "lady friend" got cupcakes and jellybeans at the snack table on multiple occasions and some trips to the bar for water as well.

And if anyone reading this was there and thought I held on to your hand a little bit too long or did it weirdly, I only tried to do a good job and get the stamp perfectly on the hand... but to be honest I don't even think the image showed properly on the hand. So if my double hand technique of "left hand holding in position while right hand stamped" was creeping you out, I'm totally sorry. I'm not a pro who could just do it right there without using my other hand who could go "Let me see your hand. BAM! Done." just like that.

And yes, the stamp was suppose to be that of a cow girl, not a messy rectangle of ink.

The first two bands were cool, from what I heard. Minor Setback, the band who opened, played pretty well for the band's first time performing. The Stars at Dusk had a glam metal look... or maybe I'm just thrown off by the frontman's long hair that reminds me of the hair metal bands from the 80s. Their sound was definitely rock, but with a hint of metal crunch to it... but don't take my word... I've never been too good describing music and using other people's lingo.

All of it sounded pretty good, but since I was the door guy, I couldn't see either bands' stage performance. I would get a glimpse here and there, but most of the time, I was either taking money and stamping hands, chatting with my "lady friend", or watching the TV screens that hung over my head. I love the fact that instead of playing some random anime show or movie on the screen, which would have made sense for the younger crowd at the show, they had a Godzilla movie on. I'm not quite sure which one it was, but it had Rodan and Ghidorah in it as well as a white dude that looked a little bit like Nick Bockwinkel. (Upon further research, the movie in question is most likely Invasion of Astro-Monster/The Great Monster War. Plus, if you knew who Nick Bockwinkel was before reading this, then wow... just... wow.)

Anyways, by this time, only a couple of more people came in during akai SKY's set. The place was packed, though. Granted, Sub/Mission is a pretty small place, but there was easily over a hundred people in the place and it made for some great energy, even all the way in the back where I was standing. The J-Rock "Peep" Show, as they dubbed it, was a way to celebrate akai SKY's new EP that came out days prior online. Even with my back to them through most of the performance, they were still great live. Off the new EP, "Break Down!" and "To the Sea" are my favorites (and if I ever do a video blog show instead of my lengthy text form, I'll do my best to get "Break Down!" as the theme,) but the other two songs sound great. And you know what... their music in addition to the kaiju battle scenes in the movie was pretty much the highlight of that night.

I've been with akai SKY since the beginning. I was there when they were just a trio with singer/drummer Yama, who I hope is living the sweet life with his family in Hong Kong because he's an awesome guy. I have seen the picture where the three were playing Guitarfreaks and DrumMania, which I'm sure inspired the band to do it for real. I was acting as photographer and camera guy during the "Val and Jay" days. To be honest, their current lineup, with Ryuusei and Jinra, gives them way more character as a rock band since their original music is great. I saw them play in an old firehouse in Fort Mason and on stage at the Asian Heritage Festival playing at the Civic Center. I went as far north as Sacramento and as far south as Monterey to see them play/help out. They are the only reason why I would go to an anime convention... well unless one of the original Power Rangers were there, then maybe, but that's beside the point.

You can say I'm biased... and well yeah, you'd probably be right.

But you know what? They're still awesome. Buy their music and see them online. You can even find them on iTunes if that's your thing. Their music is not expensive at all and it's totally worth the price.