The first band that was worth a shit was the Neighborhood Rats, I had heard of them before and people generally say they are good but I was unprepared for the amount of rock they brought. The frontwoman is super energetic and kept the flow going between songs by poking fun at people in the crowd and commenting on how hard it was to squeeze into her dress for the night. The band is solid but she really makes the whole thing come together live, as a good band leader does, with lots of bouncy dancing, wild thrashing around the stage, and spitting into the crowd.The music is good but not something that you've never heard before, it's pretty straightforward punk rock with a lot Minor Threat-ish guitar riffs that put it close to the hardcore neighborhood but not quite in there. The guitar dude is also in Fix My Head which is a pretty rad Bay Area hardcore band that borders on MT worship so I wasn't surprised. Word on the street is everyone in this band is in another cool band and I'm planning on how to check them all out and still have beer scrilla.
Next up was an OK pop punkish band that I didn't have the patience to watch in the crowded room full of hipsters even though that girl Heather from Tulsa and a million other bands was playing drums and I generally like the projects she is involved in. I had to sit down and get some fresh air while nobody was in the smoking area out back. The next band was the touring suckers from New York who barely made it out of the city before the ongoing blizzard on the East Coast grounded all air traffic.
The NY band is called Death First and they play pretty good female fronted hardcore. Not chuggish but not very thrashy or punk influenced. They kind of reminded me of Outlook or a screamy crust hipster version of I Object. I don't think I'm really being fair, I just have a prejudice against New York bands, they always seem a little too cool for school. I talked to some of the band after the show and they were very nice so maybe I'm the dick here. The bass drum was miked for some reason and it was way high in the mix and kind of ruined the set for me. It made the drums sound like it was the same beat for every song and the band seemed to kind of trip over it. I'm going to see them again tonight and it's a house show so hopefully I can get a better idea of what they are like when the sound isn't atrocious.Fucking Balazo.
Last up was Opt Out and they were of course the band I came to see. I've known Dan Goetz since '02 or '03 when our old bands used to trade shows between Chico and Seattle and I always thought he was a great frontman for a hardcore band. Also in the band playing bass is the mighty Robert Collins from bands such as What Happens Next, Artimus Pyle, No Statik, Conquest for Death, and Vaccum. He's been in a couple of my favorite bands and I'm super stoked on all the projects he has going these days.Opt Out is one of the best hardcore bands going on right now mostly because of their distinctive style where every song sounds different and there isn't much that you can readily compare to in other more stereotypical hardcore bands. It might have something to do with the mix of people in the band. On guitar is Diane from Brilliant Colors which is a crazy noise-punk riot grrrlish band that Mission art punks love and hipsters have to say they are down with to be able to drink in the cool bars. The drummer is that Trash character who plays drums in all sorts of outfits, my favorite being Condenada, the venerable Chicago all grrrl hardcore band.
Opt Out plays songs that are fast and get slow or slow that get fast or just fast songs followed by slower ones. The lyrical content is pretty pissed off and I'm pretty sure that one song is just a musical call out on people in the crowd who Dan hates. There are moshy parts, air punching parts, and a few breakdowns. I picked up their tape finally and am stoked on how dynamic they sound. Do yourself a favor.
