Spotlights Will Agree I Am the Show You've Got to See

Since my mission I've discovered the joy of going to concerts at smaller venues where lesser-known bands circulate and seek exposure through younger audiences. There's a good feeling inside that comes when you really enjoy a song or band that isn't mainstream. It's like you realize that you aren't selling out to what everyone else likes -- you are enjoying something original.

The first band that was like this for me was my old roommates' ska band Button Hooked, which is unfortunately disbanded now. I have a couple videos of their stuff on my website, thesharkbyte.com. Their music was not only fun, but it was purely based on life experiences they'd had. The attraction in some of their songs was in knowing the people and back story to them ("Danny is the One for the Having of the Selling Out," for example, is about our other old roommate Danny who wouldn't join their band), while in others it was the ability to relate to their realistic lyrics ("9 Years," a song about a guy who puts his heart on the line with a girl after being her friend for 9 years and, after being rejected, admits that he can never be just friends again). There were also slams made against other bands, like the Provo-local Matt Lewis Band (I think they suck).

The next band I discovered was thanks to the same roommates, another ska group from Southern California called Suburban Legends. Their membership has changed a bit over the last couple years, and their sound has turned more disco, but their concerts are still a riot and they tour quite a bit. They're also refreshingly clean, which is difficult to find in this genre sometimes, especially because ska really is all but dead. The most delightful part of their shows is the amazing choreography they use in their songs! In fact, when they are auditioning new band members, one of the requirements is that they are good dancers. They recently released a new album, and you can hear some of it on the page I linked to above. At the time of this writing I haven't actually listened to most of those samples, so I really can't say if it's any good. In any case, SL is a good fix for some fun rock with that horn influence.

It was at the last SL concert I went to in July that I discovered this other band from New Jersey, Jet Lag Gemini. I don't LOVE their stuff, but they have a couple songs that are a lot of fun. The first two sample songs you hear when going to their website are probably my favorites. "Run This City" is just an all-around great song and a lot of fun to drive to. At the show I picked up a free sample CD of their stuff which had that song included, and I've played it at least 50 times already in my car stereo. When I saw these guys in concert I had actually looked 'em up beforehand, so I expected to be entertained. I felt bad, however, that they didn't quite live up to my expectations. A lot of their music sounded the same and needed some refinement. Plus, only two of their members were really into the music (actually, the bass player was amazing to watch, not only for his playing skills but because he just went nuts on stage -- quite the performer). In their defense, the audience was lame (nobody was dancing or hardly even bobbing their heads up and down), and I felt bad for them as they had expressed that this was their first visit to Utah ever. I think we made a bad impression and I wouldn't be surprised if they never come back. But then again, that's what you get for catering to an audience loaded mostly with high schoolers.

On the other hand, there was another band that played awful music but really knew how to get the audience pumped. Throwing stuff at them, inviting them on stage, ordering them to run around and scream... It was chaos at times, but by golly they got a good response. It probably helped that they had a large man with a mohawk who commanded the microphone between songs. One of the more impressive moments was when the lead singer stepped out on top of the audience while they supported his feet with their hands. It must have taken amazing strength and coordination to keep himself upright, and he kept singing the entire time! Fantastic.

I guess, to me, rock music and concerts are the best when I can tell that the musicians are having the time of their lives on stage without resorting to f-bombs every other word. Suburban Legends and Button Hooked pull that off so well. A lot of the bands at the last SL tour were so mellow on stage that I felt like they hated being there, which may well have been the look they were going for, which to me leans more toward emo and less toward hard core rock. If you want to get your audience into your songs, you've got to get them energized. Barely moving while staring downward expresionlessly is poor showmanship in my book.


So yes, the obscure music world is a lot of fun, and I look forward to getting to know other bands out there with a lot of talent but, for whatever reason, not a lot of exposure.