232 Losa-Shaped Angel Porns
Losa, Angeldick, Project 232 and Pornlab – Curtain Club 1-10-03 by James

It's been a long time since I felt like sitting down and writing one of these, but it has been a long time since I went to a show that impressed me as much as this one did. As I was watching these four bands (Losa, Angeldick, Project 232 and PornLAB), it occurred to me that there was no way I could not write up something about the show. All four bands put out some of the best performances I have seen from them and I couldn't pass up a chance to give everyone the lowdown on PornLAB's new front man.

Losa is a band that impresses me more every time I see them, which is rare, nowadays. In the time since I last saw them, they have managed to write at least four new songs, so I got an additional treat of new material. The four new songs (Memory's Garden, Child-Shaped Body Bags, Tomorrow and another untitled song) just solidified my belief that Losa is the next big band in DFW. Every song they write seems to be better than the last song they wrote. Performance wise, few bands can touch Losa's stage presence and showmanship. Front man, Myk Hall, is a spectacle to behold as he thrashes around onstage like a mad man. One thing I did notice, though, is he doesn't seem to interact with the crowd as much as he did the first few times I saw them. Apart from that, I had no complaints about their performance and was impressed with their new guitar player and what he brings to their sound.

Angeldick had the daunting task of following Losa, but they were quite up for it. This is a band that puts the show in showmanship. They played quite a bit of newer material and it is nice to see they have not lost their ideology of jumping across genres. From thrashy metal to chugga chugga hardcore to fast pace punk to a crazy funk riffs, the new stuff is as all over the map as the material on their self-titled album. The centerpiece of their stage show, of course, is the insanity of their bass player, Tyler. Dressed in a suit and tie and bouncing around like a crackhead on a pogo stick, you can't help but watch the guy, especially if he is not burdened with having to handle the singing chores. Even with all his antics, though, he never misses a step, and every song from their CD is reproduced perfectly; something else that is rare, these days.

I haven't seen Project 232 in well over two years, now. In fact, last time I saw them, their lead singer had long hair and was dressed up like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. No costumes were to be found on this night and said lead singer was now sporting much shorter hair. I was glad to see that everything else that I liked about the band back then was the same, though. Watching these guys sends me into flashback mode, every time. Much the same way watching Big Iron does. They take me back to a time when lead singers sang more than they screamed and when the guitar solo was king. I am not saying that their sound is dated, but more that they give reverence to a time when music wasn't as dark and depressing. Even if they are a bit old school, 232 throws down with the best of them, proving that you can still be heavy as shit without resorting to near-death metal. I particularly liked the use of the drummer as a back up singer to add an interesting layer effect to [singer]'s vocals, while still managing to lay down some excellent drum work on a night filled with excellent drummers.

Ah, yes, the mighty PornLAB. Since they were sporting a new vocalist, guitar player and drummer since I last saw them, which just so happens to be the same show where I last saw 232, you could argue that I was seeing PornLAB for the first time, all over again. Even though I was already a fan of his work with the Hellions, I wasn't sure how Dave would fit into Miah's rather intimidating shoes. The answer? It's a perfect fit. Even though the two men's styles are completely different in every way, they both compliment the music perfectly. That is really all that matters. Dave doesn't bother trying to mimic the man he was replacing, but simply follows the path set forth in a style that is comfortable for him. All the original material from PornLAB's live demo sounds just as good with Dave as it did with Miah and he is more than a match for Miah's stage presence. In short, those who feared that PornLAB would lose something need not worry. These guys have not lost a single step. They did open with a newer song that sounded a bit different from their previous material. It had more of a hard-edged rock vibe compared to the Maidenesque stuff I have come to expect from the lab. Still a damn good song, but not at all what I was expecting.

I have to say I felt entirely satisfied at the end of the night, which is something I haven't experienced in a long time. Hopefully, this is symbolic of a return to the greatness that used to be present in Dallas. It just seems like the really heavy bands have been getting pushed to the side over the last year or two, to make room for more Creed and Limp Bizkit clones. Not that there is anything wrong with alternative bands, but I miss the days when the metalheads would turn the bigger Deep Ellum clubs into a warzone every weekend. Guys with head to toe tattoos and weird piercings beating the shit out of each other have been replaced by guys with eyebrow rings and Abercrombie sweaters. The one thing that stood out more than anything else at this show was how out of place I felt. This was not the crowd that I saw two years ago for PornLAB. Back then; the pit was filled with freaks and crazy looking fuckers you didn't want to mess with. Who knows, though? Maybe the face of metal has just changed and I missed it. Either that, or the metalheads gave up on Deep Ellum and moved to Fort Worth.