The Craze, Inverted Nines, Lil' Suicide Bunny, Damelo, Cowboy, Pan Pan, Arnica Sync and The Imps

It was thought by many that the show would not and could not go on. Everything was black and it seemed as though electricity, I mean power, was a necessary part of the rock equation. But little did we know The Craze, a local pop ensemble, had something special just for us.
Lit by only a candle, this acoustic three piece of guitars (Maurice Spencer Teilmann, Bryn Loosley and Moondog Woods) and a drum (Jeremy Malander) set up in front of the Senator Theatre, and set a mood that could only be defined as community. The Craze is a pop rock band that plays classics the way they ought to be played from the likes of The Who and some other great bands of that time. Unfortunately their set was cut a bit short by the return of electricity to the whole of Butte County and so it was thought best to recommence inside the comfort of walls and ceilings.
The Inverted Nines took a long time to set up; perhaps it was the fact that they didn't get to finish loading in due to the lights or some other sort of malfunction, but soon enough they began to play. Front man "C.C." got into it thick, belting out and playing his guitar in a way that could be considered similar to that of a mad man. The rest of the band consists of Steve (bass), Travis Disaster (drums) and Scott (guitar), all of whom seem to know exactly what they are doing even if other people do not.
There are bands that thrive on excellence, there are bands that thrive on self-deprecation and I feel that Lil' Suicide Bunny (Shawn on vocals and guitar; Heather on bass and Spencer Teilmann on drums) falls somewhere in between. Often times, when watching them you feel as though there is a joke that they all find really funny which they have no intention of letting you in on and this is really pretty great. Their set was short but sweet, conducting their musical experiments on us while keeping us amused.
Damelo seemed to become a technical difficulty. Everything that could have gone wrong seemed to. As completely out of their personal control as it was, shit went down and that is not to say that this process was not fun to watch.
Layering vocals and peppy songs prove that Cowboy (Connie Cassidy on vocals and keys; Jason Cassidy on guitar and vocals; Conrad Nystrom on bass and Trevor Sellers on drums) is something more permanent than anyone could have guessed. Their tunes generally make you want to get up and bop around.
Redding, California is a little nook full of surprises. The indie / punk music scene has thrived there among kids and adults alike. Pan Pan seems almost worthy of being called the antithesis of this. Becky Anker sings amazing indie soul and Anna Adams backs her up on that fully with her guitar, while Phil Anker beats on the drums.
It is probably safe to say that Arnica Sync is one of the greatest bands in Chico right now. Kelly Bauman (guitar / vocals), Dan Greenfield (guitar / vocals), Conrad Nystrom (bass) and Trevor Sellers (drums) are all amazing musicians and have been fully immersed in the rock for such a long time that if this band were to produce anything less it would be a disappointment.
The Imps are a fucking great band. With a touch of something a bit more Southern, whether it is John McCall's voice or something in the written music, it reaches into the place where rock 'n' roll first came from. The Imps have been doing what they do for a long time, switching band members around a bit when necessary and keeping it real. They know how to put on a good show, they know how to party and lucky for them the two go hand in hand. Their songs tend to spin me into a sort of battle. And by the end of each song...triumph.
-Haley Hughes

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