Show Review: Grand Ole Party, Fifty on Their Heels, Non Prophet, David Hermsen

First off- from a ticket sales perspective: this was Non Prophet's crowd. At least... 80% of the crowd... was there for Non Prophet. If you haven't heard of Non Prophet, they are a five piece band and they play... kind of a heavy metal/ hardcore hybrid. It is a lot of sound. So- uh- yeah- they had the fans, most of whom left before Fifty on Their Heels played and all of whom left before the end of Grand Ole Party's set. That is just a factually true observation.

Here is their myspace page.

Check out Non Prophet!

Fifty on Their Heels is playing more of their new stuff in concert... certainly a welcome trend for me, since I've seen them a bazillion times. Something that I thought was interesting about last night's performance was Junior Metro using a bigger stage. Most of the stages that Fifty on Their Heels play on are small and close to the ground. The stage at 'Canes is about four feet off the ground and freaking enormous. That was really apparent when Non Prophet was thrashing about. For example, Junior kept trying to see how far he could run across the stage before being pulled back by his guitar plug.

It should be good practice for the Adams Avenue Street Fair stage(enormous, I'm hoping?) and the SoCo Music Experience(w/ Mudhoney!) on either 9/9 or 9/10- don' know if i can announce that yet, but this is my first post ALL DAY- so, you know... That's going to a free event. I think they had one in Atlanta already- i will investigate.

And Grand Ole Party... Grand Ole Party... there has been some hanging out with Louis XIV at their fortress of solitude/recording studio at an undisclosed location in San Diego county(not where i'd expect, personally). They put on a really great set, which was cool, because it was kind of like one band playing for the other band and vice versa (in essence- apologies to the twenty or so other folks in the club...) It reminded me of the Fifty on Their Heels/ Power Chords show at the CHOB for Fifty on Their Heels all ages record release party... in April.

It was kind of a mellow, intimate vibe- but in this ridiculously large venue. I think I made a mistake in assuming that there would be people at 'Canes on a wednesday night in august, just... hanging out... already. that was not true in any substantial way. almost everyone there was there for the show. Grand Ole Party is really growing on me... particularly the guitarist. I think... Louis XIV will not let them get away from Atlantic. That's just too easy a decision.

i don't think we'll get an offer to come back to 'canes once they look at ticket sales, but it was nice to try to reach outside of the comfort zones with a couple great bands that were new to the venue. I mean, you have to try. Thanks to the super friendly 'Canes employees who made us all feel welcome!

Show Review: Fifty on Their Heels @ Transport, Assorted NY Dolls @ Modus, Some Scene Gossip...

Fifty on Their Heels returned to Transport (@the Whistle Stop in Golden Hill) last night- first time back since about this time last year, if I'm not mistaken. I've heard that they have a whole album worth of material ready to record- the talk is that they'll be back in the studio in september but the record may not come out for a while, so if you want to hear the new songs, you should come check em out- like maybe next week at 'Canes- with San Diego "Best New Artist Nom"(and winner?) Grand Ole Party- on wednesday night. Again- no pictures since I managed to lose the digital camera in the beauty bar/ken club craz-e-ness on friday night- damn you delicious girlie girl cocktails from Beauty Bar!!!

Transport was packed, packed, packed by the time I left. No offense to transport or whistle stop, but if there is an enormous sweaty mass of people at an event, my presence is likely superfluous.

After the gig, we all headed over to the New York Dolls afterparty at Modus. Why, you know about Modus, right? New restaurant/dj spot on fourth avenue between juniper and ivy? I was there for the first time last night- no food in site, so no comments about the food. the space is pretty good- they have a fully enclosed outdoor smoking patio, which is a nice thing for a summer night in san diego. drinks were somewhat reasonable- somewhere between a dive bar and the gaslamp. whatever meathead was working the door last night was a total dickhead (not the cashier, but the door man). Dude- you're working at Modus- people under 21 can't afford the $10 cover, and they wouldn't know who the NY Dolls are, so settle down on the asking for two(!) different forms of id for our friend who came down from los angeles, k?

The New York Dolls(no David Johansen, and obviously, no Johnny Thunders) spun a set of vintage rock and roll- like, the Shangri La's, Little Richard etc. Morgan was running around taking his shirt off, and the members of Fifty on Their Heels were butt ass wasted. We left at 1:30 and who knows what happened next? Probably more drinking, I'm guessing.

The crowd was in line with what I'd expect from a $10 cover- older and smaller then what one might otherwise expect. It's all good though- after friday nights beauty bar mad house (450+ in attendance, i heard) the fresh air and breathing room was nice.

I may drop a restaurant review of Modus into the mix, but I want to give them time to prepare for me..

Oh- and, I guess Gabe Vega and the Beauty Bar have parted ways? Word tells me that Gabe is now a "consultant" and that Erika is now in charge of booking. Maybe the Gaslamp is calling Gabe Vega? I know a venue or ten that SHOULD be standing in line for his services...