As it seems Jake’s Backroom is th eonly venue that can advertise, I once again venture into its sticky-floored depths in search of heavy stuffs! This time, Palms, Chino of the Deftones side project (of who can keep count at this point), was rolling through town, and I simply had to go! The under card was local band Murrieta, and mid-show Boyfrndz (terrible spelling theirs).
To kick off, the happy hour there is awesome as hell! Whiskey sours during sound check were cheap as shit. Made me come in with a great attitude. So starting off the musical side, Murrieta is a local band, who was meh. I couldn’t really tell where they wer going with their sound, as they had a killer rhythm piece, but the guitars, 2, simply put me to sleep. I am fine with dual rhythm guitars, but wow, please don’t play the same thing as each other. Impress me. Differentiate yourselves. Use harmonies! overall, not impressed with them. Singer was ok, couldnt hear him well in the mix, but had tons of passion, if not much talent overall.would watch if they were on another bill, but not for them.
Moving on, Boyfrndz pissed me right the hell off. The band hails from Austin, TX, and has a great energy and the lead guitarist is extremely good at his job, but the ponce playing rhythm had probably the worst vocal effect ever. I don’t care how bad your voice is, effects are meant to highlight, not replace, and by god don’t keep them on when your talking to the sound guy. He also was not high in the mix with his 12th fret capo. It was a distraction, but he felt the music, which was a pretty decent mix of progressive and ambient. I would love to see them run through here again, but would someone please break the news that looking hipster is never cool. Never. But please more guitar, love that guy!
And now, what you’ve all been waiting for, PALMS! But First, a confession most dire: I am not a Deftones fan in the slightest. Now, I can here your gnashing of teeth from in my little brick basement, so I’ll explain. I was for a short while a fan of them, but grew out of it within a month, as they didn’t fill an emotional hole within me. They feel whiny and just lacking, in my opinion, but for those that adore them, I cannot find fault there. Again, personal dislike. And another however, I really like Palms! Chino’s delivery was amazingly suited for this style of music, as it was so heavy, and slow, and just filled the room to brimming with the sounds of the band. It was entrancing. The crowd was all in, too, with one chick just almost getting up in Chino’s lap on stage, with her shoe making an appearance for the whole show, here reaching out to grab him, and eventually, Chino blowing up at her because she grabbed the mic stand and nearly hit him in the face with it. It was awesome to watch, as it was kind of frightening (Jake’s doesnt have a divider between the stage and the floor, only thing seperating is the satge is about 3′ higher than the floor). Aside from crazy fan lady, the Palms set was fantastic. Everything sounded great, including Chino’s guitar in the mix, as the rest of the band is known as ISIS, who are proficient riff peddlers and fit perfectly together.
Gallery of finery below!
