Vendetta Red, Open Hand, A Static Lullaby & Vaux
The Brick Works, Chico, CA
2003-01-12
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I showed up to The Brick Works at 7:30 PM, wondering if the 17 DayQuil I had taken
earlier exceeded the maximum recommended dosage or if there really were three
guitarists in the band that was taking the stage. A lovely young lady next to
me assured me that I wasn’t hallucinating. I attempted to thank her, but
the words came out something like "Thrunk snork" because the wonderful
little cold virus I acquired a couple days earlier made it sound like I had a
cantaloupe lodged up each nostril. She ran away screaming.
Anyway, the band with three guitarists (in addition to a bassist, a drummer and a singer) informed the small crowd gathering at the front of the stage that they were called Vaux, then proceeded to fill the room with their particular brand of heavy rock. The third guitarist added an interesting dynamic to the music and, if nothing else, they put on a very energetic live show. After a short set, they began breaking down their gear to make way for the night’s next rockers, A Static Lullaby.
Though the crowd had grown slightly, there were still not very many people in the room as the band took the stage. Commenting on that, their frontman offered, "We’ve never played Chico before, and I don’t think we’ll ever play it again...just kidding." During the actual songs, however, you would be hard pressed to decipher his screaming. Here is an actual excerpt: "Blarrrg bleh blaaarp!" Much screaming and many technical difficulties (broken guitar strings) later, the singer informed the crowd that A Static Lullabye "didn’t really take pride in [their] live show" and closed their set with a notably strong number that got most of the heads in the room bobbing.
Open Hand was next on the bill, and they opened with a dual-guitar arpeggio piece that was both impressive and entertaining. The rest of their very animated show was based around unpredictable dynamic changes and complicated arpeggios in the same vein as their opening piece. Their very developed, almost System Of A Down-ish sound sent a new vibe into the room that most of the audience seemed to be connecting with, and served as a great precursor to the show’s headliners, Vendetta Red.
"This song is about how stupid it is to start a war over oil!" announced Vendetta Red’s charismatic frontman as a wave of sound crashed into the eagerly awaiting crowd. With socially conscious lyrics and catchy melodies backed up by powerful, guitar-driven music, they were easily the strongest band on the bill. Highlights of their performance were a particularly well-written song called "Shatterday" from their upcoming album, Between the Never and the Now, and a powerful finale that included the singer picking up one of the drummer’s cymbals, stand and all, and smashing it into just about anything he could find. I don’t know if the drummer appreciated it, but it was a damn cool way to end a show.
– Dana Hocking
Anyway, the band with three guitarists (in addition to a bassist, a drummer and a singer) informed the small crowd gathering at the front of the stage that they were called Vaux, then proceeded to fill the room with their particular brand of heavy rock. The third guitarist added an interesting dynamic to the music and, if nothing else, they put on a very energetic live show. After a short set, they began breaking down their gear to make way for the night’s next rockers, A Static Lullaby.
Though the crowd had grown slightly, there were still not very many people in the room as the band took the stage. Commenting on that, their frontman offered, "We’ve never played Chico before, and I don’t think we’ll ever play it again...just kidding." During the actual songs, however, you would be hard pressed to decipher his screaming. Here is an actual excerpt: "Blarrrg bleh blaaarp!" Much screaming and many technical difficulties (broken guitar strings) later, the singer informed the crowd that A Static Lullabye "didn’t really take pride in [their] live show" and closed their set with a notably strong number that got most of the heads in the room bobbing.
Open Hand was next on the bill, and they opened with a dual-guitar arpeggio piece that was both impressive and entertaining. The rest of their very animated show was based around unpredictable dynamic changes and complicated arpeggios in the same vein as their opening piece. Their very developed, almost System Of A Down-ish sound sent a new vibe into the room that most of the audience seemed to be connecting with, and served as a great precursor to the show’s headliners, Vendetta Red.
"This song is about how stupid it is to start a war over oil!" announced Vendetta Red’s charismatic frontman as a wave of sound crashed into the eagerly awaiting crowd. With socially conscious lyrics and catchy melodies backed up by powerful, guitar-driven music, they were easily the strongest band on the bill. Highlights of their performance were a particularly well-written song called "Shatterday" from their upcoming album, Between the Never and the Now, and a powerful finale that included the singer picking up one of the drummer’s cymbals, stand and all, and smashing it into just about anything he could find. I don’t know if the drummer appreciated it, but it was a damn cool way to end a show.
– Dana Hocking
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