i showed up, and saw the revised line up.
son de valle had to cancel for personal reasons, and that actually worked out alright for me because i was running late. the show kicked off later than planned so i got to see about half of it's an icicle's set, which i thought i'd miss. i enjoy this young band, although they're still a bit rough around the edges. i'm sure with time and shows they'll gain the experience needed to be a solid band. or, they'll break up. unfortunately, i didn't get any video of the band.
i did, however, get this snazzy bracelet . it cracks me up because the undercurrent is definitely a left leaning paper. i'm sure commenters on the fresno bee or many of those that write letters to the editor would call the undercurrent a communist rag or unamerican. nope, we've got flag bracelets for our party.
the first band i did record was the fay wrays:
i'm definitely a fan of the fay wrays, and have seen them on several times. they're almost done with their album, and i'm eagerly awaiting that. they've recently added a bass player that is playing on most dates. he lives in l.a., so he's not at every show. i met him, but forget his name. he is a great addition to the fay wray sound. the bottom end really allows benji to play a little cleaner which sounds great. and, dude is quite a presence on stage, swinging his bass, kicking about, and thrashing around. benji does a bit of that as well, so it might be a little dangerous on that stage.
the next act was shon j and dj bumsun. i'd never seen shon j, but enjoyed his flow and may check him out june 30th @ the starline.
3 bags full got a late start and a shorter set because their drummer was running a little late. but they still kicked out the jams.
patrick contreras, fresno's own american rock violinist was in full form with his band. his music is really starting to grow on me. i mean, they're not going to replace my fresno favorites, but i'm enjoying it more and more each time. i've always thought that patrick was talented and a great performer, but i'm finally coming around on his instrumental rock.
after patrick's set, this sweet ride was raffled off by the fresno bicycle coalition. the bike is a limited edition fat tire amber ale bike, donated (i think) by new belgium brewing.
tickets were $3, or 2 for $5. i went in for $15 and thought i had a good chance because not a lot of people were buying tickets. sadly, i did not win. the winner was in for $20, which is still a great investment for that ride.
the sleepover disaster was there early to watch the fay wrays, but had some other engagements in between that and their set. they all returned in time to drop great music on the crowd.
last on the bill was destructo bunny. i have seen destructo in quite some time, and he has really honed his craft. solid, solid hip hop and beats. and, he's pretty impressive as a one man, complete hip hop act.
overall, i really enjoyed the show. but, it had some issues. the main issue was the attendance which was terrible. seriously, it was damn near vacant for large stretches of the night. by the time the headliner came on, there was around 15 people left in the house. that totally sucks. so, why was the show so poorly attended? was it the $15 price tag? maybe. i mean, i know it's a slow economy and what not, but people still go to shows. and, $15 for 7 bands is nothing, especially considering that these are 7 of fresno's finest.
but, last's year's show had more bands alongside of several of this year's acts, and was only $10. maybe it was more of a value. or maybe last year's show was a little better. either way, last year had much better attendance.
it shouldn't have been so poorly attended. i mean, they went from being 21 & over @ the first two parties to an 18& older event. that should have brought in some more folks. and, it was at a better spot than last year. the starline is one of the better music venues in fresno.
i think when it's all said and done, a lot of it comes down to promotion. it seemed to me that a lot of the promotion was a bit late coming. i'm not blaming anyone, it just seems like the previous two shows were a promoted a little more, and were a tad more organized at the event. and the bands themselves lagged on this as well. i'm not myspace or facebook friends with all the bands, but i am with many. in fact, i think shon j may be the only one i'm not linked up with online. and i pretty much only saw bulletins for the show from destructo bunny and the undercurrent over the last ten days. it's an icicle put out a flyer post the day of. the rest: silent. that sucks. i know the bands all did the show for free, to support the undercurrent, but promote yourselves and the show dammit. the undercurrent promotes your shows for free, take a few minutes and repost the undercurrent flyer.
when it's all said and done, it was a good show and i'm glad i went. i just wish more of fresno had joined me.
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