Interview with Sky Eats Airplane guitarist Lee Duck:

Q:  How did the band form?

LD: “It first started off as a two piece.  Myself and our old singer just kind of messed around with combining two genres, which were electronica and metal, in high school. Then we thought it would be fun to release an album and just put it up on myspace.  Things really took off and we were really surprised at what came of it.  Our old singer wanted to go to school, so he quit the band.  Things started to get more serious and record labels started to contact us, so I started looking for a singer and other members to fill out the band.  That brings us to today.  We changed our sound quite a bit going from the two piece to the five piece band.”

Q: How did the sound of the band change?

LD: Our first album was more of a colorful electronica album.  We had electronica as the base of each song and would build the rest on top of that.  Now it’s a different process.  We do the structure of the song first, with bass, guitar, and drums, and then we add electronica to that.  It adds more depth to the song that way and is better than trying to fit guitar and drums around electronica that’s already pre-made.  There’s an advantage to that, but it also changes the focus of the song.  Now it’s on the structure of the song, instead of the electronica aspect of it. “

Q: How did you guys come up with the band name “Sky Eats Airplane”?

LD: “It was just a counter to all the shitty band names that use the same five or six “dark” sounding words.  We like to make up stupid stories to give relevance to the name.  But honestly, we just wanted something that was original and had imagery to it.”

Q: What’s one of the stories that y’all tell people?

LD: “That we went to a kindergarden class and told the kids to draw three words out of a hat and that was our band name.”

Q: Right now it seems like a lot of bands are trying to do the whole “heavy music mixed with electronica” thing.  What do you guys do to separate yourselves from the rest of the pack?

LD: “In the beginning I think we were really doing something unique and then everybody kind of followed in our footsteps.  We’re just staying true to our roots and doing whatever we want.  We’re not really thinking, ‘oh, how are we going to stand apart from everyone else,’ because we know that we’re still different than everyone else.  We’re still doing our own thing.”

Q: You guys released your first album as a two piece? What was that process like?

LD: “We recorded the our first album in a bedroom using a pc.  We just worked of it everyday after we got home from school for a few months straight.  We weren’t even really thinking about releasing it.  We were just having fun with it and didn’t think it was going to go anywhere.”

Q: Sky Eats Airplane started touring before it was even signed to a label.  How did you guys manage to get on such big tours without a record deal?

LD: “We got one of the best agents out there  before we even got signed, which was a definite plus.  I think that the kids definitely thought it was pretty cool that we were getting ourselves out there without a record label backing us up.”

Q: How did you manage to get with such a big agent?

LD: “I guess he just had a trust in us.  He knew we were in talks with record labels that were reputable, so I guess he took that into consideration.”

Q: Once you did sign to a label, what made you decide to go with Equal Vision?

LD: “Definitely their reputation with bands.  No matter who we talked to that was on the label, everyone was really happy with them.  We heard a lot of things about other labels that we were talking to pertaining to how impersonal they are or how much they don’t care about the bands.  Also, things like how much money they take from the bands.  Just all this drama that we didn’t really want to be involved in.  We just wanted to make music.  When we finally met Equal Vision, they were the most wholesome and genuine people.  A record label shouldn’t have a bigger ego than the bands on the label, which is the case with some other labels. We’re really happy with the position we’re in.  We have a really solid record deal.”

Q: The self-titled album made billboard top 200.  What was that like for y’all?

LD: “That was definitely one of those lifetime achievements.”

Q: What’s the writing process like for you guys?

LD: “It’s more of an assembly line process.  Our guitarist Zach will start working on guitars, drums, and bass, and the raw structure of the song.  Then he’ll send it to me.  We’re not like practicing in a room, trying to make a song like in the movies.  We literally just send files back and forth to each other over instant messenger.  So, he’ll send me something and I’ll give my input.  Then I’ll make something electronica wise and send that to him.  We just kinda go back and forth until the song is complete.  That’s pretty much how we’ve always worked, even when we were a two-piece.

The only person that really does work in the studio is Zack.  He records all of the guitars.  I’m a guitarist, but I know that he’s an amazing guitarist and I just let him take care of that.  It would probably take me forever to try to learn some of the stuff he writes.  What happened last time was he took care of all that stuff and then I did the electronica and the lyrics.

We’re trying to strive for more effort from all the band members.  We just acquired a new drummer that makes his own drum parts, so we’re really excited about that because before we were just programming drums and telling our previous drummer to learn them.  He didn’t really any say so, but now it’s really comforting to know that we have someone  that’s an amazing drummer that really cares about his parts.”

Q: How have things been going with the new drummer?

LD: “He’s insane.  We like to think he’s not human.  He practiced yesterday, which was an off day.  We were all going around New York City and he decided to  sit in a hotel room for 4 hours practicing.  He’s a pretty dedicated dude.”

Q: What was the concept behind music video you released not too long ago?

LD: “There were actually a few concepts behind it.  I’m not gonna lie, we’re not really that happy with how the video came out, especially because it came out so far into the record cycle.  We initially had other music videos planned for that and they completely fell through.

The first one, due to a fire marshall busting the set.  We had a stage built, which too two weeks, that made it look like we were being held up by these demon/industrial looking people and we were going to be rocking back and forth on the stage.  During the first take, a fog machine set off the fire alarm and the fire marshall showed up and shut down the entire place and said that we weren’t allowed to do it there.  So, we were forced to get out of there, but we couldn’t move the stage because it was so massive.  They would have had to take it apart.

We tried to do another music video at a venue up the street, but it just looked really stupid.  We pretty much scrapped that and came up with a new idea a few months later.  We just rented out a mansion and shot the video there.  The concept was kind of like the “Closer” video by Nine Inch Nails, with weird stuff.  It’s an alright video, we were just kind of over it at that point, since it was the third time around.

We’re constantly trying to think of the next best thing we can do.  We’re going to be working on a new album soon.  We’re not really dwelling on an album that we did a year and a half ago. “

Q: How has this tour been so far?

LD: “It’s been pretty decent.  This is our very first headlining tour ever, so we’ve been really anxious and excited to see how the turnouts are.  It’s really great because we’re allowed to have as much production as we want.  We kind of went all out on this tour and got a bunch of really cool lights and it’s all sequenced exactly to the beat of our music.  Our computer runs the entire light show, instead of some dude that “knows” our music.  It probably takes us about an hour to an hour and a half to set up everything, but it’s totally worth it once we get to play.

We definitely had to buy a generator, because a lot of the venues have insufficient power for us to run our lights.  We thought it would be in the best interest of putting on the best show possible for us to just purchase a generator.  It might be loud and stinky, but it does its job.”

Q: How did you come up with name for the “New Nu Metal” tour?

LD: “It kind of just came from an inside joke in the band.  We’ve been really obsessed with nu metal lately.  We’ve been listening to a lot of Korn, Sevendust, and Limp Bizkit.  We were thinking about possibly naming it after something having to do with being nerdy because we were doing a lot of really nerdy things like playing Magic: The Gathering.  But the one idea that stuck was to just name it something having to do with nu metal.  It was kind of funny to say the “New Nu Metal tour,” since nu metal came after metal so I guess new nu metal is after nu metal.  I guess we’re kind of like the next edge in music.  It’s stupid and funny, but I don’t think kids really get it.  People are expecting us to be nu metal and when their hear our music they’re like, “what are you guys talking about? You’re not nu metal.” I’m just like, ‘that’s not the point.’  It’s entertaining for us at least.  As even more of a joke, we did a Limp Bizkit cover for this tour”

Q: What’s your favorite song to play live?

LD: “We enjoy playing ‘Numbers’ live. It has a simpler song structure, so it’s kind of fun to play.  We get pretty pumped up every time we play ‘Nookie’ haha.  ‘World Between Us’ is pretty fun to play as well.”

Q: What’s next for you guys after this tour?

LD: “We plan on taking a long break off and starting to write for our next album.  We’re in the process of picking producers and all that stuff.  But right after this tour apparently we’re going to be doing some international stuff in the UK and possibly Europe as well for a few weeks.  For the most part, we just want to focus on getting this new album pretty much pre-written before we go into the studio. That way we can use all of our studio time to our best advantage to make this album amazing”

Q: Any ideas on a possible direction you want to go in for the next album?

LD: “We have a few demos that we’ve been working on, but we really don’t know what the final product is going to be.  Our songs always take shape a certain way and then once we’re actually done with them it almost feels like a completely different song.  When Zack starts off with the basic song structure it might sound very jazzy, but still very metal oriented.  But then once we put electronica over it, a lot of the parts that sounded jazzy are more like jazz infused with pop.  Everything just kind of fills up the song as we go along.  So, we honestly can’t say what it’s going to sound like.  We could go a lot heavier or we could go not as heavy.  We just have no idea.  I think that’s kind of the beauty of our band, that we just take whatever shape we want to.  We’ve kind of establish that that’s just what we do.  We’re not going to be sticking to a certain sound.  We don’t want to do the same album twice.  That would be stupid.

Q: Final thoughts?

LD: “Pantera rules and f*** yeah, haha.”

Interview with AJ Lescher, vocalist of Liferuiner

Q: When is the new EP coming out?

AL: It’s supposed to be due out by mid summer, but we don’t have a set date for it yet.  We’ve got 5 songs written for it, so it’s just a matter of recording them.

Q: Are you guys planning on going in a different direction musically at all?

AL: Not at all.  It will still be in your face, still pissed haha.

Q: Will there be any surprises on the EP?

AL: There won’t be any clips from movies and there are a few guest vocals scheduled to be laid down.

Q: What is the lyrical content on the EP?

AL: That is a little different than the past.  There are a few songs directed towards relationships and shit talkers, but mostly just pent up frustrations all around.

Q: Seeing as how the EP is called “The Most Hated,” what is the most common negative comment you hear?

AL: Over and over again, we hear “break up,” “you aren’t a real band,” etc.  Just read out myspace.  You’ll see the hate.

Q: What’s the overall message you guys are trying to send as the new Liferuiner?

AL: We aren’t slackers.  We book shows to play them, not to cancel them.  If we cancel a show, it’s for a very good reason.  Plus, we aren’t the assholes that everyone thinks we are due to the past line-ups’ mistakes.  

Q: What separates this line-up from previous line-ups?

AL: We’re all friends.  We’ve known each other for a while now.  We’ve all been in touring bands before and we know what it takes to be successful on the road and we know the highs and lows that come with that.  

Q: Do you guys feel like a cover band at all when you perform?

AL: Not really.  I mean yeah, we’re playing someone else’s music, but we’re started to play our own songs live.  So, we play the hits and then we play what we have.  It’s a good combo.

Q: Is it weird playing songs that you didn’t write?  Do you believe in or agree with the message in the lyrics written by the previous incarnations of the band?

AL: I identify with a lot of what the old lyrics have to say.  I was a fan before I was in the band and we’ve all be in the types of situations that they talked about.  

Q: Why not just change the name of the band? Is that something you’re considering?

AL: We are definitely changing the name.  It’s just a matter of getting people to come out to shows, see who we are, identify with us a little, meet us, and then change it.  That’s more of the business side of being in the band.

Q: What made you guys decide to drop the x’s from the name?

AL: Basically because we all felt that there are a lot of bands out there that are edge that don’t have the x’s.  We’re edge for us, not for a marketing tool.  Those bands that have x’s in their names fits them and they do what they want.  I understand a lot of them do it as a pride thing.  However we decided to take the band in a different direction personality wise and not just be an “edge band.”

Q: What has been the hardest thing to get used to about being in Liferuiner?

AL: The constant hate.  I mean, the internet stuff is one thing.  The fact that people just show up at shows looking for dudes that aren’t in the band and haven’t been for over a year and want to fight us because of them is ridiculous.  

Q: What’s your favorite thing about being in Liferuiner?

AL: The actual fans.  The kids that tell us that either way, if we sound good or bad.  The critics that don’t just voice an opinion without seeing, hearing, or knowing us.  Plus, we get to go around the country and world doing what we love and basically making dreams come true.  

Q: What are your favorite songs to play live?

AL: Other than the ones we have written, haha, “You Look Better When You’re Drunk,” “Olympic Sport,” and “The Jump Off.”

Q: Any goals for the near future?

AL: Just to keep moving and keep changing people’s minds on who we are and why we do what we’re doing.

Q: Final thoughts?

AL: I’m really hungry…

A lot of music today seems to have lost its meaning.  The lyrics have become generic, shallow, random, and even on occasion thoughtless.  While we may all dream of having tons of money, cars, and living life as an endless party, it’s simply isn’t reality.  It leaves nothing to interpretation and nothing to learn from.  That’s where bands like Sacramento’s Consider the Thief come in.  By intertwining beautiful melodies with passionate lyrics, Consider the Thief is hoping to bring back a small amount of significance to music.   Even the band’s name touches on that subject.  

“Our name has turned into our perspective on how the media and mainstream culture has stolen the true meaning from things like love and music, by cheapening them and taking away their beauty.  The mainstream has humbled love with things like pornography and by over-sexualizing things and giving people a false image of what love is,” says guitarist Sean ‘O Sullivan.

“We’re hoping that in a small way we can sort of restore a little bit of meaning, so that it’s not still this empty thing that the media’s turning love and music into.”

While that may seem a  bit self-righteous, the members of Consider the Thief in no way see themselves as the saviors of mainstream music.  They simply want to make beautiful music that inspires thought.  

Last spring, the band released the Soldiers and Saints ep.  The ep was 5 song post-hardcore masterpiece that earned the band a fair amount of recognition, including Tim Karan from Alternative Press.  The band will be featured in AP’s 100 Bands You Need To Know next month.  

“We have some pretty cool people that are rooting for us in different places.  A few people at AP have really pushed us far.  We got an email a couple months ago saying ‘we want to feature you guys in the 100 Bands You Need To Know.’ At first I was like, ‘ok this is kind of cool,’ but then I did some research and realized that this is kind of a big deal.  When talking to the guy who interviewed me for the article, he told me that this is a huge deal for an unsigned band,” comments O’ Sullivan.  

“We’ve been blindsided by a lot of really cool things over the past few months that don’t normally happen to unsigned bands.  That’s the sort of credibility that you can’t really buy.”

Consider the Thief just  finished recording its full length album entitled Signs and Wonders, which will be available on iTunes in mid to late March.  The band set one goal for itself upon entering the studio and that was to make a record that sounded completely different from anything it had ever done.  

“We only placed one real limitation and that was ‘let’s see if we can write an album that has no screaming at all.  Let’s see if we can write songs that are just really good songs and not focus on the screaming and the aggressiveness that comes with it.’  And for us that was a pretty big challenge,” states O’Sullivan.  

“There’s still a lot of heavy aspects to the record.  We just didn’t want to rely on the crutch of using breakdowns or screaming.”

Lyrically, the band drew inspiration from the Bible.  However, vocalist Dryw Owens chose to focus on the morals behind the stories rather than the religious aspects.      

“They are largely biblical, but sort of applied to everything I’ve been going through in writing the lyrics for this album.  Although the themes are sort of ancient, I feel like a lot of meanings from the Bible are relevant today,” says vocalist/guitarist Dryw Owens.  

“There’s definitely a message there that we’re all drawing from.  All these stories in the Bible that, regardless of where you come from or what you believe,  still have a lot of power and beauty.   There’s a lot to be learned from those stories,” replied O’ Sullivan.  

All in all, Consider the Thief is a band that strives to inspire thought and emotions.

“We’re just trying to write songs that don’t just sound good to someone, but that stimulate someone’s mind and heart to maybe change or just realize some things that they haven’t pondered before.”

What were your goals going into the recording process for this album?

-“We had a couple of goals.  We wanted to create an album that was better than all of our other albums.  We also wanted to make an album that captures the energy and the essence of what we do live that we have never been able to capture on a record before.  I feel as we accomplished these goals.”

What sets this album apart from your previous albums?

-“Musically, it’s just better songwriting.  It has better lyrics, melodies, sing-a-longs.”

“This is also the least personal album I’ve ever done.  All of the other albums have been me talking about my personal experiences, life, and love, heartbreak and death.  On this one, I took a step back and wrote it as a storyteller.”

- The song Crusafiction is a fairly shocking song and bashes Christianity quite blatantly.  What are the beliefs of the members in the band?

-“I can speak for some of the guys when I say we don’t believe in god and we don’t believe in the devil.  We don’t believe in all of that christian propaganda that they’ve perpetuated over the past several centuries.”

“If you really get into it and dissect it, it’s about a guy named Roman who is the brother of Jesus Christ.  He comes back to earth to tell people that Jesus wasn’t the son of god and that we wasn’t put on earth to perform miracles and save people from their sins.  They were born of a prostitute and that Jesus was just a thief and a beggar and that everyone in the world was tricked.  And that there is no religion or god.”

-What other stories did you draw inspiration from?

” There’s a song about Elisabeth Bathory, the blood countess that killed over 600 women and would bathe in their blood to try to preserve her youth.  There’s also a song called excommunicate, which is about a Catholic priest who molests a boy and the kid grows up and wants revenge.  That comes from the fact that the Catholic church spent over $600 million on lawsuits last year for sexual abuse cases.  King on Holiday is about Elvis Presley and how he’s not actually dead, just on a holiday.”

- What made you all decide on the album title “Knives”?

“It describes in one word what the record feels like in regards to lyrical content.  The songs are aggressive and fast.”

So, what’s with the $6.66 ticket for this tour?

“With the economy the way it is, kids just don’t have a bunch of extra money to go see every band that they want to see.  It’s hard for kids to see all the music that they want to.  We wanted to do a tour that people could afford to get into, something special for the fans that have supported our band from day one.”

Parents are speaking out against this album.  What are some of the things they are saying?

-“Parents are saying that it’s evil and that it’s influencing kids to go against religion, which I think is great.”

“I wish that I could travel from school to school teaching kids about all the bullshit they’ve been fed.”

What are some of the other things you feel the youth is being lied to about?

“There is an endless list of things that kids are being lied to about.  Government, politics, religion, health, safety.  I mean, come on.”  

“I’m really just fed up with religion and I’m tired of being quiet about it.”

How was is getting some of your songs in movies and even having one be the title track for a film?

“It was a great opportunity for us.  Of course we’re not going to turn anything like that down.  I was a fan of the original, so to be a part of the sequel was awesome.”

Final thoughts”

“Get ready.”

Last night’s show at Modesto Virtual was an interesting one, to say the least, and also managed to be a sell out.

Locals Erendira got things started.  I reviewed them not too long ago and not too much has changed.  The band is still the epitome of a high school band and still has a lot of growing to do.  The sound is unpolished and very rough around the edges and the stage presence just isn’t quite there.  With more shows and more practice, I’m sure Erendira will make some progress.

And Then There Were None kept things going with…I don’t even know what to call this band other than typical for what’s popular these days.  Now instead of screaming over a techno beat, ATTWN insists on singing “heartfelt” lyrics over one.  It was actually more like whining over a techno beat, from where I was standing.  I swear, one band comes up with an idea and then everyone else decides to do it to.  The crowd of underaged scene kids loved every second of, but they’re also the reason why this awful musical trend has become so popular in the first place.  Just give it a few months and the scene will move on to the next big thing.  

This was my second time seeing the screamo band Eyes Set To Kill and the band was no more exciting than it was the first time around.  Musically, the members are talent and know how to write a fairly decent song.  On the other hand, the songs sound a lot like everything else that’s out there right now.  The band’s one unique quality, the fact that the second vocalist is a female, ends up being one of its flaws.  The female vocals took away from the intensity a little bit.  Her voice is good, but doesn’t seem to fit 100%.  Also, the synth was situated so that it faced away from the audience, which was slightly awkward.  The male vocalist would pretty much have his back to the crowd for a good 2 minutes in order to play it.  The band’s live performance is still a bit of a bore.  No one’s really doing anything exciting other than the male vocalist.  Without him, I probably would have fallen asleep during Eyes Set To Kill’s set.  

Brokencyde…where to begin.  At first, all I could do was laugh during the first 2 songs on this group’s performance.  All I could think was, “These guys can’t be serious.  There’s just no way.”  As the set went on, my amusement turned into confusion and then to shock and awe.  About half way through, one of the vocalists announced, “I’m so horny tonight.  Are you guys feeling horny tonight?” I definitely wouldn’t want some 20 something year old guy asking my 15 year old child if they’re horny tonight.  The group then went on to sing a song about getting “drunk and f—-ed up.”  Most of the kids there weren’t even old enough to drive themselves to the show, let alone get “f—-ed up.”  It was the most over-primped and colorful orgy I’ve never been apart of.  I love how kids were walking around like they were the s—- because they like Brokencyde.  The fact that Brokencyde is actually popular is a sign that the downfall of music is here.  I have no faith in future generations at this point.  This “band” encompasses everything that’s wrong with music today.  I’ll give them this much, if I put everything on mute, it would have looked like a party I’d definitely want to attend.  Once you turn the sound back on, I’d probably decide to just stay home.  With all that said, I hope that this screamo/techno/rap fad passes quickly.  

Headliner’s Drop Dead, Gorgeous wasted no time in getting its set going.  From the first note of the first song to the last note of the 4th to last song, every member of the band gave it everything they had.  I was pretty sure the drummer was going to pass out if he kept playing the way he was.  He alone had more charisma than some of the bands that played earlier in the night.  Not to mention, Drop Dead Gorgeous also has one of the most flexible guitarists I have every seen.  You know you’re  a good headlining band when you can blow the other bands out of the water within the first few minutes of your set.  And that’s exactly what Drop Dead, Gorgeous did. I love nothing more than to watch a band that just goes for it with no holds barred.  This band holds nothing back on stage.  Unfortunately the band’s was cut short when the cops showed up and shut everything down.  The band asked if it could just play one more song, but the cops said no and started kicking people out.  This is definitely a band that loves and appreciates its fans though.  After the show, the members went around and apologized to fans and promised to make it up to them.  It was a crappy way to end the night, but Drop Dead, Gorgeous will be back soon…on April 3rd at the Empire Theater, to be exact.

Friday night’s show at the Empire was packed to capacity.  The crowd was the same one you’ve all see at every other screamo show within a 20 mile radius, consisting of no one over the age of 18…except for the bands.  Every two minutes you could turn around and see yet another girl taking an extreme angle or half-face myspace picture.  These kids should be ashamed of themselves.

I Set My Friends On Fire played a decent set.  The band members clearly love what they do, but that doesn’t really offset the fact that the band falls into that horrible screamo/dance music category.  Its sound was so typical and nothing about it was very memorable.  The one thing about I Set My Friends On Fire’s performance that stood out in m mind was the guy running around on stage with dreadlocks and booty shorts.  But even that seemed a bit played out and over done.  The lighting during the band’s set was terrible.  This is why colorblind people shouldn’t be allowed to works lights.  I Set My Friends On Fire wouldn’t be too bad on mute, but unfortunately concerts don’t come with remotes.  

Brokencyde once again demonstrated why the downfall of music has arrived.  I didn’t think is was possible for Brokencyde to get any worse or more disgusting, but apparently it is.  There was one particular comment made that almost sent me running for the bathroom.  Of course all of the girls in the audience kept screaming and thought everything the group said was on the same level with the Ten Commandments.  Sure, the members of Brokencyde know how to work the crowd, but most of their crowd interaction will probably get them 4 years in jail and a spot on the sex offenders list.  The music is pointless, thoughtless, and talentless and the live performance can’t make up for those things.  On, and Brokencyde is not a band, no one in that group plays an instrument.  So, let’s try not to insult the people that actually do have some musical talent by lumping Brokencyde in with them.  

Fear Before was definitely the odd band out at the show.  It was the only band without melodic breakdowns, keyboards, or dance beats.  The band’s music was refreshing after listening to the previous two bands. The only negative thing about Fear Before’s set was that no one in the audience seemed the least bit interested in it.  Since it wasn’t danceable, no one cared, which is so unfortunate.  Fear Before is a very talented band with music that sounds like nothing else out in the market.  The stage show is also interesting and strange, but in a good way.  Everything fits together. Even the singer’s odd movements and gestures make sense with the music.  During the performance, the singer took a shot a Brokencyde, commenting on the lack of musicianship.  Also, since Brokencyde decided to play an encore for some reason, Fear Before had to cut two songs from its performance to stay within the alloted time slot.  So, thanks Brokencyde for forcing Fear Before to not play one of my favorite songs.  

Drop Dead, Gorgeous did an amazing job yet again.  This is one of those bands where even if you don’t like the music, you’ll probably want to see them again just due to the explosive live performance.  Bands could really learn something from Drop Dead’s stage show.  The members give it everything they have and never disappoint.  Once again, the sound at the Empire was subpar and the singer’s mic went out a few times during some of the band’s new songs.  I bet those songs would have been awesome with words.  The music isn’t entirely original, but it is extremely well executed.  And this time, Drop Dead, Gorgeous actually got to finish its performance.  

Alesana also had an incredible stage performance.  This band is very charismatic and it yet another band that clearly loves playing music.  All of the band members were constantly smiling and were just having fun with it.  When you see a band like that, you can’t help but to smile too.  Alesana’s set was a tad bit awkward though, since there was pretty much nothing on stage except for their gear and the lights were practically all on at that point.  Alesana is the epitome of the standard screamo band.  Everything follows the formula, so naturally the kids love it.  Alesana also took a shot at Brokencyde by making fun of its shallow lyrics.  That was really funny considering the fact that Alesana is a generic screamo band that sings about past loves and not being understood.  Irony is a wonderful thing.  

The show overall was entertaining, but makes me want to bring my ipod and listen to my own music and pretend that the band I’m listening to is playing. This of course comes with a few exceptions to the night’s line up.  All in all, it was just another screamo show in Stockton.  

209Vibe street team member Jordin Harris has been ruffling some feathers lately with her reviews of local hardcore shows. A hardcore fan herself, Harris is focused on providing her honest opinion on the bands she’s reviewing.

That’s meant at times criticizing the cookie-cutter bands in the local scene - an opinion that’s refreshing and hasn’t been expressed publicly or professionally in the past.

The 209 has a big enough scene that we should expect it to be inventive, original and talented; we should be setting the trend, not following it. Bands should always be hungry and striving to play in front of more and more fans, not thinking they’re superstars once they can fill a 200-capacity club.

Harris calls out the bands that she sees as the followers.

Of course, the bands - and their fans - haven’t always appreciated it. They’ve been somewhat blindsided given that there’s never been a true critic of their scene, and they’ve let me know it with the occasional MySpace message dotted with curses.

(But their response hasn’t been anywhere near as child-like as that of some of the area restaurant owners who have received bad reviews. There have been rumors of threats against restaurant reviewers who dare to say that the steak they ordered rare should’ve come rare, not cooked until it’s gray.)

What they don’t realize is that criticism comes with any art, particularly music. The bands that get ahead in the scene are the ones who accept criticism and act professional by using the reviewer’s opinion to improve or, at least, respectfully disagree with the reviewer.

After all, you’ll never know what you can do better unless someone tells you what you might be doing wrong in the first place. And label and industry reps don’t look too fondly on young artists who let their emotions get the best of them and ostracize reviewers.

It’s important to note that most local musicians understand this. The number of local bands and artists who’ve told me they seek criticism over the past three years far outweighs the number who’ve complained recently.

This also means 209Vibe, obviously, must be open to professional criticism itself. We want your opinions, we need your opinions, and we want you to share them with everyone so that we can be held accountable for what we do.

If you disagree with an online review, please post your opinion in the comment section of the review. We also print criticism in the letters section of our monthly newspaper. Just send an email to letters@209Vibe.com with your full name and the name of the city in which you live.

If we have the power to do something better, we’ll try and do it.

That’s included recently adding two genres to our artist profiles: Metalcore and Christian hardcore. We’ve heard from some local bands who’ve said they’ve been unfairly classified as hardcore when they actually fall into one of these other two genres.

MySpace, however, doesn’t offer metalcore or Christian hardcore as an option.

We’ve added them in response to your concerns. If you have any other ideas, don’t hesitate to let us know.

La Circa, The Glorious Fall and Consider the Thief took the stage April 25 at Lodi’s newly-christened 180, formerly the 180 Teen Center. Despite the name change, the show still drew a mostly teen-age crowd who came to check out La Circa.

The Glorious Fall opened the night with a set typical of the melodic hardcore/metalcore bands with keyboards that seem to dominate the scene these days. It sounded like the band was trying too hard to sound like its influences, which include As I Lay Dying. Its members individually were pretty decent musicians for their age and the band had great overall stage presence, but with their powers combined, they form yet another ridiculously generic band.

Consider The Thief, meanwhile, shows incredible musical talent that helps set it apart in the scene. The complex melodies that are in every song are what make this band one to watch. There are perfectly planned out three-part vocal harmonies backed by even more amazing three-part guitar melodies, which take them all to another level.

Consider The Thief’s music is so incredibly beautiful, but unfortunately the acoustics in the 180 Teen Center did not do it justice. The intricate guitar parts were hard to separate and the backing vocals could barely be heard. That aside, Consider The Thief brings something new to the table, which is nice for a change, and I think that everyone should give them a listen.

La Circa gave an entertaining performance as the night’s headliner, and the crowd loved every second of it. La Circa is a very talented band, but for me there is nothing there that makes them stand out from the crowd more so than any other band in the genre.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching them and I don’t mind the music, but this band just falls into the same usual mold for a screamo band. La Circa is so close to having something great, but just needs to push the envelope a little more.

I have faith in the fact that La Circa will be something great and that the band will mature in its sound with time.

Sam and I had a few predictions going into The Doghouse Tour’s stop Feb. 23 at The Stockton Empire Theatre.

Prediction 1: the turnout would be ruined by the apocalyptic, Wizard of Oz-esque storm that everyone said was going to come through.

Prediction 2: That everyone was going to leave after Athens played.

Turns out we were half right.

Give ‘Em Hell was the first band of the night. They seemed like an energetic bunch from the moment they took the stage. The band was all over the place trying to get the crowd involved in its set, and it genuinely looked like it were having a good time.

Musically though, the vocals sounded very monotone and the breakdowns were not nearly as heavy as I had hoped. Also, I kept thinking to myself that the band’s sound was kind of familiar. Then it hit me…it sounds like Comeback Kid. I felt like I was watching a sloppy, confused version of the latter group.

Occasionally, Give ‘Em Hell completely missed the mark by having vocals that didn’t match the tone of the song at all.

The crowd didn’t exactly help them out either. It was like everyone was afraid to come within 20 feet of the stage. And then there was the horrible hardcore dancing that was taking place in the pit. It was almost painful to watch.

I couldn’t help but think to myself, “this is why people make fun of hardcore dancing.”

Give ‘Em Hell has a lot of potential, but it really just didn’t do it for me at the show. Final verdict: entertaining to watch, but the band fell short musically.

I didn’t really even need to know the name of the second band to figure out what I would hear next. The typical scene hair in the crowd, the unnecessarily tight pants, the large number of females in the front row: they must be the local screamo band.

I wasn’t exactly right, but Athens may have well been a screamo band. If you were to take the Solid State Records bands and put them all in a blender, you would get Athens.

They sounded so much like everyone else that’s already out there. On top of sounding mildly generic, the vocals on a few of the songs were ridiculous. I don’t know if they were just kidding around or not, but I could not take them seriously after that.

They had great energy, but there was just nothing different about their music. Once again, so much potential, but they just need more time to really develop their sound.

As I watched the third band, Oblige, set up, I saw a ray of hope in the form of two bass drums. Up until this point in the show, the most entertaining thing that had occurred was some kid getting hit in the head with a ball that one of the band members threw. Now I thought we might actually get to hear some heavy music.

I looked around at the remaining crowd and noticed something was missing. Where did all of the 15-year-old scene kids go? I guess Oblige wasn’t a band name they could drop to earn scene points, so they all left.

Oh well. I think my mouth may have actually been hanging open when they started playing. The sheer brutality of it all was incredible.

Oblige was definitely way too much metal for Stockton. The vocals were amazing, the musicianship was borderline flawless, and the breakdowns made you want to punch someone in the face.

The Veil Of Maya was next to take the stage. Finally, a band I’d heard of. The set was awesome, although I did feel kind of bad for the band. The crowd was so dull that the lead singer couldn’t help but to shake his head. The audience seemed so uninterested in what was going on.

Despite the lame crowd, Veil Of Maya was still able to put on a high-energy, intense set. Its music was an interesting mixture of death metal with melodic parts interlaced. Odd, I know, but somehow it worked. Also, the vocalist had amazing range, which he demonstrated during every single song.

Yet another amazing band, but I just don’t think Stockton is ready for this type of music.

I was kind of excited about hearing the next band - The Ghost Inside. I hadn’t really heard a lot of their stuff, but what I had listened to I liked. After the performance, I am officially a full fan. The band had so much energy and its breakdowns were so good. It managed to have one good breakdown after another. Seriously, they just kept coming. I didn’t know what to do with myself.

The Ghost Inside screamed SoCal hardcore, which is not a bad thing at all. It could have been the poster child for the genre. In addition to being amazing all around, the band definitely had the best merch. Nothing says hardcore like a shirt that says “Time To Get The F*** Up” on the back of it.

Finally, it was time for the headliner, Stick To Your Guns. I should have known we were in for a crazy time when the band started off with its most popular song, “This Is More.”

When the breakdown came, the crowd went insane. There was a 40-person pile-up on the mic.

I was tempted to join in, but I didn’t think my vertical leap was good enough to get me on top of everyone else. I kind of felt bad for the two girls that were at the bottom of the pile.

Stick To Your Guns’ performance even came with back-up dancers, courtesy of the other bands on the tour. Being that it was the last show of the tour, the on stage antics just kept coming. The band was having so much fun, that they decided to play “This Is More” again, as the closing song.

I had no problem with that, since the song is absolutely amazing. All of the other bands jumped on stage and began stripping down. There were so many half naked men on that stage, I felt like I was at Chippendales. You really couldn’t help but smile and laugh the entire time Stick To Your Guns was on stage.