Alien Ant Farm, Adema, Glassjaw & Earshot

A five-piece band from LA dressed in all black opened the SnoCore Rock Tour at the Senator Theatre. Earshot, sounding a bit like Tool, enveloped the auditorium with loud bursts of chunky guitar riffs, pounding drums and hearty screaming. With three guitars, their strong vocals matched the thundering power chords nicely. A definite band on the up and up.
Next, New York hardcore band Glassjaw graced the theatre with their East Coast presence. This band's limitless energy brings back the days of true aggro rock music. The vocals were naked and raw, with lyrics hardly discernible as the singer jumped, twirled, twisted and contorted around the whole stage screaming poetic anger. Glassjaw is not for the weak hearted and definitely not for people who sit around with their thumbs up their asses.
Originally from Bakersfield, Adema, whose album just went gold, could not shut up about how good it was to be home in California. Frontman Marky Chavez built an easy rapport with the audience as he worked the stage holding up the sign for 'Westside,' drinking a beer and pounding his chest in a gorilla like nature with the microphone. The beauty of Adema was furthered by Kris Kohl (percussions), Dave DeRoo (bass), Tim Flukley and Mike Ransom (guitars). They, too, rocked their own styles and entertainment through the halls of the old movie theatre. This nu-metal band takes the gold for world-class stage performance.
Finally, the band whose cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" put them on the TRL charts, Alien Ant Farm took the stage. What a bunch of fuckin' freaks - but in a good way. At times, their music is low and romantic but then instantaneously bursts into ferocious noise. Although their sound mixes together like warm apple pie, each member is their own ingredient. Sporting a fresh beard and beanie (hey, we wanted to see the reverse Mohawk), singer Dryden Mitchell can be described nothing short of a lunatic. He has vocal dexterity and depth of expression not heard since Freddie Mercury, all the while, waltzing with an imaginary partner and doing jumping jacks on stage. The bassist, Tye Zamora, is a real-life cartoon character and is absolutely hilarious to watch. He over dramatizes every expression, lip-syncs and jovially jams on his bass, incorporating the crowd via mini-Mag-lite. On the other side of the stage is guitarist Terry Corso who at moments twirls around the stage like a graceful ballerina and then headbangs his way back into reality. He busted out an acoustic which was not only beautiful to hear him play but added yet another glimpse into his softer side. Although I couldn't see drummer Mike Cosgrove and all his antics, I'm sure he too has some tricks up his sleeve. Although they didn't play their Jackson rip-off, they did cover Sade's "Smooth Operator" (what's with covering titles beginning with the word smooth), which was interesting and not half bad. It was unexpected to say the least. Alien Ant Farm is chaotic freeform at its best.
- Mary Utterback

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