BEST ROCK SHOW OF THE YEAR IN CLARKSVILLE!!!

Reviewed by JB

2/22/2007

            Gotta be honest here, not sure I would call it the best…not for fault of any of the bands, they rocked.  I couldn’t help but keep finding myself wanting to jump the sound guy, use my superhero powers to sedate him, and make things right in the mix world again!  Then, there was the almighty question…where have all the groupies gone?  Thursday night in a college/army town and tumbleweed was blowing through the bar.  Has not anyone in Clarksville heard of Thirsty Thursday?  Don’t get me wrong, I love The Warehouse!  Of my experiences in  C-ville, it is my fave place for live music and all good venues have off nights…just never expected it to be this night, I mean, come on…4 great bands with 4 different sounds and of those bands, 3 had played there before.  Hmmm…

First up was fORMER, appropriately titled from their past achievements.  These guys have been rocking together for well over a year now, and they definitely have the musical technique for longevity.  Their independently released, self-titled debut (which I am listening to as I write this) is catchy and radio friendly.  The band consists of Denny Smith - Vocals/Guitar/Keys, Henry Go – Bass/Vocals, Ian Wolczyk – Guitar/Vocals, and Corey Boise – Drums/Vocals.

fORMER

            This was my introduction to fORMER and I went into it with blind eyes; meaning, I did not Google them or do any homework to prepare myself.  I like to get a fresh perspective and do not want to have any preconceived influences when reviewing new bands.  I have to be honest; their forty-five minute set did not convince me they were as solid as they are.  The sound was horrific, vocals were drowned out so badly I couldn’t understand a word they were singing or speaking between songs (hence, the sound guy reference in opening paragraph).  When Denny and Henry sat down with me to give the inside scoop on fORMER, I was honest with them and stated I would not hold this show against them, how I couldn’t wait to listen to the cd, and I look forward to seeing another show.  And that, I definitely will! 

I really liked these guys; Denny with his Ramones style, Ian and Corey scream the emo movement, and as a hairstylist, I give Henry the best rockhawk award!  Although their music is a lighter style than I normally listen to, it offers the total package…great lyrics and concrete music.  When I asked Denny and Henry to sum up fORMER in 3-5 words, Henry pointed to Denny to answer that one.  Denny, digging for words, replied “Loud pop…no, pop on steroids!”  Is there such a genre as punk/pop?  If not, there is now and fORMER is there.  Check them out at www.myspace.com/formerband or www.formerband.com!  

Second on the stage was Caprice.  My first thought was, “interesting name”.  I guess JoJo, my buddy who took the road trip with me, thought the same thing; because on the way to the show, she asked what caprice means.  As word savvy as I am, I was blank.  So, I know one thing I’m doing as soon as I get home, check out their MySpace then hit Dictionary.com.  Caprice: a sudden, unpredictable change, as of one's mind or the weather or a tendency to change one's mind without apparent or adequate motive; whimsicality; capriciousness.  Very fitting since this band was newly formed in 2006.

This was Caprice’s first visit to Clarksville and The Warehouse, and it was my first time meeting them.  Before the show began Tony Higbee, lead singer and guitarist, came over and introduced himself to me.  We chatted for a bit, he answered all my questions, and then gave me a quick history of the band and its members.  Other members of caprice include Tony’s brother, Cody, on Bass, Jesse Floyd on Guitar and Backing Vocals, and Daniel Brasuell on Drums.

CAPRICE

These guys rock and they rock hard!  They bring everything they have to the stage and put on quite a show!  The crowd (using the term loosely) really warmed up to them, and Tony quickly realized C-vill likes it heavy by making a quick reminder, “Note to self…Play hard set in Clarksville.”  With songs like “Halo”, “Again”, and “Karma” (my personal fave) these rockers can’t go wrong.  By making comparisons to Slayer and remarks about singing songs about Satan, I hope I was correctly interpreting the hints of sarcasm coming through the poorly mixed audio.  No, Caprice is not that heavy but they’re great on their own level of hardness.  When it comes to Caprice, there are 2 things I am anticipating…the first is to catch another show somewhere other than The Warehouse and the second is their debut album, which (as Tony stated) hopefully will be out in July 2007!  When I asked Tony to sum up Caprice’s sound, he quickly replied, “Saturday night t-top rock!”  I couldn’t agree more and awesome quick thinking!  Check out these cool guys at www.myspace.com/capricekickedmyass. 

Todd of DEADSUN

Next up was Deadsun, currently my favorite local band.  These guys have it all…the sound, stage presence, and the songs!  I mean, really, you got the fiery front man, best bassist ever, gutsy guitarist, and dead-on drummer!  They opened up with my second favorite single, “40 Days”, from their 2004 album, Degenerate Matter (horns up to “Drowning”).  Then they mixed it up with newer songs like “Bombshell” and “Sexualized” from their 2006 release, Falling Away.  These four guys really got what people were in attendance on their feet and to the stage.  That was the most movement I had seen all night in the entire room.  By the fourth song the pit opened up and little metal heads were being tossed all around, but security quickly put an end to that.  Deadsun’s set began with an explosion and ended with a nuclear assault.     

The first time I saw Deadsun was at the Backwoods Metal Fest in Cadiz, Kentucky; and if I remember correctly Degenerate Matter was newly released and they had gotten a new bassist.  Yeah, it’s been awhile.  When Deadsun took the stage, I was hooked immediately!  To top things off, I knew the new bass player from his former band; the Menn had shared the stage a few times with some of my best buds from Paducah, Kentucky.  Small world, huh?!  All name dropping aside, I have been a supporter of Deadsun for a few years now and I will continue to spread the word!  These guys rock hardcore!

            At the end of the night, I totally caught Rex off guard when I asked him to sum up Deadsun’s sound in 3 words; after much thought he said, “Heavy melodic rock”.  Right on and true; but because I get the last word, I call it spitfire induced metal!  This night proved size of the crowd does not matter; Deadsun will annihilate few and all!  Deadsun are Todd Cadorette – Vocals, Rex Arthur – Guitarist, Dee Adman - Bass, Adam Hempseed – Drums.  Get to know Deadsun at www.myspace.com/deadsun and DeadSunBand.com.

Wes of P. JONES

Last but not least were the hosts of the night, P. Jones (Project Jones).  I have known these guys for many years now and have seen numerous shows.  I have witnessed really great shows and I have seen not so great shows; but no matter the quality of the performance one thing is guaranteed, you are going to have the best time!  This was a first for me to see them in their “own” element (meaning the guys have settled in Clarksville and call it the band’s hometown) and it was very cool.

Before I give my details of the show, let me take you back to a different place in a different time…Murray, Kentucky (home of MSU Racers, yeah, you’ve probably never heard of ‘em, it’s ok, really!)… My girl and I decided to have a nightcap at a local dive called Saturdays.  To our surprise they had a band and the place was unusually packed.  They had just begun their last set but quickly grabbed my attention.  Originals, wow, that’s something you didn’t often hear in this area…there’s plenty of cover bands but not enough bands that play their own stuff, I was intrigued.  They had me when they broke out their own rendition of “You Are My Sunshine”, I can’t resist a good ole girl scouts by the campfire feel good song!  Then they busted out their version of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and it was at that moment I knew I had to know these guys!  So I stayed after the show and introduced myself and they were so welcoming.  After that night, any time they were in town I was there for all the good times!  I love these guys!

Thursday night before the first band went on, Wes approached me to say, “Since we’re the last band tonight we’ll probably be drunk so be nice.”  He was right and by the time they were on he was complaining with an upset stomach...could it have been the Jager Bombs???  Trust me that Red Bull is rough on the stomach…next time leave out the Bull and you’ll feel much better!  No more teasing, Wes, I did promise to be nice!  I know what these guys are capable of and this night was about having a fun night at home with their people.  I respect that.  As for the set, it was short but they did get a few songs out there, like my personal faves “When I Come Down” and “Just Like Me”.  It was all for the sake of good fun!  Project Jones members are Wes Newborn – Vocals/Guitar, Ney Gore – Drums/Vocals, Jason Yates – Bass/Vocals, and Jerry Allen – Guitar/Vocals. 

Hit ‘em up at www.myspace.com/projectjones or www.pjonesmusic.com. 

      In conclusion, the night was a good one.  I’m glad I had the honor to meet 2 new bands and see 2 of my favorites all the same night.  I would like to thank Ney “You Rock” Gore for all the intros and assistance you gave me.  For the sound guy, I’m sure there’s a mixing sound for dummies book out there…ok, sorry, that was harsh…Thank you to all the band members that took time to speak with me, I look forward to seeing you all again!  Thanks to The Warehouse for having this event, I hope to be invited back (especially since I said I was sorry to the sound guy)!

Most of all…support your local music scene!!!

All Photos taken by JB