Thursday, June 20, 2013

Concert Review: Whispers of Wonder, We Rise the Tides, and The Haunt PDX



There were a lot of things that were unique about this show, so I wanted to talk about how it, and the venue, were different, as well as say a little about the two other bands.

The venue was truly unique. I am fairly sure it started as an office building, but has been changed into a haunted house, and the ground floor was set up with a stage and sound system.

It was probably the closest to a basement show that I have ever been in. Things were stripped down, and mic'ed up loud, and while there was room to hold a lot more people, I would guess the attendance was no more than about 100.

The atmosphere was good. There weren't really haunted house effects where we were, but there was some wall art that added some mood, as well as shades over the lights that were probably just there for glare/reflection reduction, but kind of resembled bats. Mainly it was pretty Spartan, and that worked. There was plenty of room for dancing, and like I said, they had it loud.

That vibe of low-key, but good, continued with the concessions. It was primarily bags of chips, candy bars, cans of pop and energy drinks - the things you can easily buy in bulk at Costco or similar places - but they were reasonably priced, and they also had a popcorn machine, which was really cool.

Personally, I hate moshing. It was allowed here, but there were warning signs, when someone got out of hand they stepped in, and then issued a reminder to the crowd that overall I think worked well.

So these were all good things about the venue, and I love the idea of concerts in a haunted house. There were two big downsides, one of can be fixed, but the other might be more problematic.

Set up took forever. It was like no sound checks had been run. Part of it may be that they didn't stack band equipment, so each band had to set up everything before going on. The stage was not huge, and I know it's probably a pain for opening bands to have to work around the headliner's equipment, but it just took forever. The show was estimated to end at 11, but at 11  Farewell, My Love had just finished, and that meant their takedown, Snow White's Poison Bite's setup, and then their entire show, were still to come.

This is part of the reason that I did not stay for Snow White's Poison Bite. Their review will be only a band review, not a concert review, and I feel very bad about that. Part of that is the workable problem, which is getting things running more smoothly and minimizing downtime. The other problem, that may be less workable, is location.

The Haunt is over by Portland Meadows. It was a young audience for the most part. I didn't see a lot of cars parked, and I would guess a lot of the attendees are either walking, relying on public transportation, or calling parents.

It doesn't seem particularly near to housing, and it is kind of near MAX, except that path to MAX is under a freeway underpass. On my way to the show, right around there I think I saw vagrants fighting over something. Even if I think I can make it home without being raped and murdered, I have people who worry about me, and I just could not stay out later than that.

As I headed back to the train, there were two young girls heading that way too. I thought, Great! I can keep an eye on them, or yell for help if needed. That worked well until we were almost out from underneath the underpass, when they hugged and the one started back. I am very glad that she escorted her friend, but now I have to keep looking behind to see if she is making it back safely. As far as I know, all three of us are still breathing, but it was more stress than I like.

It was a good show (and I wish I had seen all of it), and I like the idea, but there are some points against it. Also, I think the proprietors were getting some flack about the shows from the property owners, so I don't know what's going to happen there. Maybe they can move to Beaverton. We have a lot of empty properties out here.

One thing that did make the evening take longer is that in addition to the four featured bands there were two local bands, with their respective setups and takedowns. We had Whispers of Wonder and We Rise the Tides.

We Rise The Tides was probably the more put together of the two. They had banners similar to the ones Snow White's Poison Bite used, and two cute girls running their merch sales (I don't think Whispers of Wonder had any merch), and they even had a videographer, the female of a pair who may or may not have been the bass player's parents. However, I really liked Whispers of Wonder better.

Bands where the vocals are growling and shouting are not my main thing, but I've listened to quite a few since I've started doing this, and one thing that I have learned is that if you are going to do that, your instrumentation needs to be really strong, adding layers and complexities that normally come from the vocals.

With We Rise the Tides, it sounded like every song was the same. Listening to them recorded it is not quite as obvious, but still, listening to Whispers of Wonder is just more interesting. Listen to the intro on "The First Year" for example. Yes, they do start shouting shortly thereafter, but there is just more to it.

And that's not to make it a contest. Both bands are obviously young bands, with years ahead of them to get it right. I was listening to an interview about CBGB's not too long ago, and the point they were making is that CBGB's would let anyone play, and they had many sets during an average night, so it was a place where bands learned to be good. So I can resent the two local bands because it made the show an hour longer and I missed a band I was there for, or I can be grateful that bands get chances to try things out, which they need. I'm glad they got their chance. I'm just saying I think Whispers of Wonder is better.



No comments: