Saturday night we went to see All Time High at the Blue Moon. I probably should have written this up sooner, but we spent Sunday buying plants for the yard, and the pot of tea I had at lunch while we were out kept me up until about 6AM Monday. Yes, that’s right: I was so hopped up on Earl Grey that I couldn’t function. The rock & roll lifestyle, etc.
We ran into steb within seconds of walking in the door, so we got to catch up with him for a bit. He was kind enough to hook me up with an oh-so-stylish All Time High t-shirt, too. Woo hoo!
On to the show. Apparently some of the guys from Skullbot, the band with the greatest name in America today, also have a side project called Broke Mothership. They were slated to play Saturday night, but since one of them (the drummer? I don’t remember) is only 17, the folks at the Blue Moon decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to play. Sadly, they didn’t reach this decision until after the band had driven all the way down from Stanwood. I can see the bar’s point of view; Washington State has some of the weirdest and most punitive liquor laws I’ve ever come across, and they were probably in fear of loosing their license – especially since they’re kinda on the outs with local government anyway. Still, though, this sort of thing should have been worked out beforehand.
At any rate, The Detoxicants opened the show with a buzz and a roar and a rowr and all that. The band themselves sounded quite good, for the most part. My only complaint/concern would be in the vocal department. There is a way to get that yelling/screaming/barking thing going on with out blowing out your voice. Dude was seriously going for vocal nodes before the third song was done. It’s not that he was bad so much as it hurt to listen to him. Once they get that aspect of things worked out, they’ll be on their way.
As for All Time High, they’re back to being a three-piece. Steb says they’ve got somebody in mind for the second guitar slot, but I’ve gotta say that they don’t really need it, based on what I heard on Saturday. They were sounding really good. I mean, yeah, they blew a couple of clams here and there, but their overall sound was much tighter than when we heard them last. When I hear the term “stoner rock”, I tend to think of plodding, sludgy stuff like Dead Meadow. ATH are more what we would have called “hard rock” back in the day. Heavy without being metallic, if you follow me; I think the stoner aspect comes from the lyric content. Whatever. Bonus points are awarded for covering “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)”.
Science Girl, who never makes a move without bringing along a camera, took pictures.