Who Turned On The Lights?
Review of Club Indigo show on 2-27-04 by James

Club Indigo is, hands down, my favorite place to go for shows in Dallas. The split room set up is one of the greatest ideas in the history of club design. On more than one occasion, it has allowed me to escape the torture of a horribly dreadful band while still being able to enjoy the finer aspects of binge drinking. Mind you, I knew I would not have need to escape on this night, because the five bands playing are among my favorites currently gracing the DFW scene with their beautiful noise. I had a bad feeling about Derision playing the headlining spot, though, because I knew they haven’t had a chance to really build a following around here, yet. Such is the life of a local band, though.

First out of the gate was Killeen’s Thumbscrew. I’ve seen these guys once before at Fury Fest, so I knew what I was in for, but I can’t remember if they had a bass player the first time I saw them. Thumbscrew plays that chaotic brand of music that bands like Dillinger Escape Plan are known for and they do it quite well. Still, I had a bit of trouble getting into their set. Could just have been the opening band thing and I’m sure the minor technical issues was part of it, as well. Regardless, Thumbscrew put on one hell of a show, thrashing around the entire time and still managing to stay together. A bass player would have gone a long way to thickening up their sound, though.

I’ve been telling anyone that will listen that Losa is one of the best bands in Dallas for 2 or 3 years, now, and anyone who has seen them knows why. From beginning to end, their set was as close to flawless as a band can get. They played some newer material and some songs that have been there since the beginning. The older stuff has undergone so many changes that it is barely recognizable as the same song. What amazes me the most is that every time I see these guys, they are better than they were the last time. Stage show wise, I don’t know how to describe it to someone who has never seen them. Myk Hall is the embodiment of insanity when you put him behind a microphone and if you can manage to not watch him in awe the whole time, the rest of the band is almost as much fun to watch. On a personal note, I found Jesus at this show – he sings for Losa, now.

I haven’t seen Jacknife in over a year, so I felt like I was seeing them for the first time. Former Lesser Known God/Daemon bass psycho Joseph Fontenot seemed right at home playing with Jacknife and definitely brought something to the table with his back up vocals. People have been saying for a long time that Joe Ortiz puts on a show not soon forgotten and he proved them right, ten times over. In fact, I have to agree with people that say Jacknife is one of the most impressive live bands in DFW, at the moment. The songs are catchy in that Hatebreed kinda way with choruses you can sing along to after you’ve heard the chorus once. It was also nice seeing Jacob from Dustborn back on a stage, again, even if only in a limited capacity.

Blood Ties. Hmm. Yea, they kick ass. Everyone should know that, by now. With Ronnie and Braxton on guitar duty, how could they not kick ass? Minus the unfortunate drama of a short-lived fight, Blood Ties played yet another highly entertaining set. Terry Shanks borders on intimidating as a front man, stalking back and forth across the stage like he might just jump off that stage and kick all our asses, at any moment. From what I know about the guy, I’m pretty sure that isn’t the impression he is trying to give off, but when you see the intensity that he has when he sings, you’ll understand what I mean. That could be said of the whole band, really. There is a lot of intensity in Blood Ties’ set. If the new material they played for us is any indication, the new album should lay waste to anyone who thinks they know what aggressive music is.

Closing out the night was Derision. Yea, that’s right, a band played after Blood Ties. Not that anyone who saw the other bands would know that. When Blood Ties finished tearing down, people scattered like roaches when the lights come on. Oh well, their loss. Derision got off to a shaky start, but found their groove after a couple of songs and finished out the night like champs. As with the other bands, the new material they played showed noticeable growth in the band’s songwriting. The only shame about Derision is, in my opinion, Paul Gasparro should do more clean vocals. Pretty is easily the best song they’ve got because Paul lets people see more of the range his voice has. I’m all about guys that can scream their balls off, but I just think his clean vocal is too good to not let it shine through more.

So there ya go, I finally carried my fat ass out to Ellum for a show. Happy now? I wish I could get out to more shows, but for those that still don’t know, I live two hours away. Still, I try and make it out when I can, if the shows warrant the drive. I felt like this one most definitely demanded that I be there, and I am glad I was. I got to see some friendly faces that I haven’t seen in months and I got to see some great bands, to boot. Till next time, remember, I’m just an asshole with a web site.