The Shoulder Voices will be playing at Ralli's 4th St Pub and Grill Tuesday, June 20 at 10pm. Get out of the house, get drunk and be somebody!
OK, so I'm editing this message as an update. I didn't want to post a new discussion, mostly because I didn't want to start a 'thing' about Ralli's or the bands I played with, but also because I didn't think it quite deserved an entire topic. It must be said first that everone working there, the other bands, and the auidence (whatever auidence there was) were all nice, helpful people that wanted a good show. The sound guy was as nice as he could be in regards to the special needs the SV have. Beyond that, though, it was a strange and, generally bad, gig. The auidence looked like people in the downtown area getting off of work nearby and getting some drinks. It reminded me of an applebees or chili's. There hasn't been live music there for long, so there is no scene, just whoever the band brings out. We passed out over 400 flyers, yet no one seemed to be there for us. The time schedule we were to go on changed that night, so that was a bit of a disappointment. The first band, For Play, was a cover band playing Journey, ACDC, Aerosmith and the like. I had to leave to get away and get some cheap drinks (Ralli's doesn't even offer a discount to bands, much less any free drinks). I went to Burt's where the Pabst is 1.50. After we got back I was greeted by Razburi Sumthing's ska/rock stylings. This was the worst possible line-up I could imagine. If you liked the covers, you would leave upon hearing the original music. If you came in to hear original music, and heard the covers you would leave. The billing offerd little to nothing for an auidence. The worst part of all was my guitar dying on stage. It was a slow death that took a couple of songs, and made our set by far the worst we've ever played. My apologies to our three friends in the auidence as well as anyone who happened to make it out. I don't think we'll ever be playing there again, partly because we're not right for the scene they have, partly because we played so shitty I don't think they'll have us back and partly they don't quite have it together, but not because they aren't trying. I set this show up as a last minute thing, and I'll never do that again. We're thinking about playing fewer shows and making them an event, as large a 'production' as possible. Cheers!
SP are not huge fans of playing at Ralli's as well, and I concur with many of your points. On a side note, y'all kicked some ass at Atomic the other night. Mad props. Good to see you again, Mr. Musk(Cliff, right? If I see you one more time, I'll have it etched in memory.) I hadn't seen Branden play live and I was pretty impressed. That little kick punched through surprisingly well, and he's got some pretty serious chops, as you all do. Cheers, man! I enjoyed it!
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." -Ben Franklin
G, yeah, rallis is just not the type of thing people of our persuasion would frequent, but it will go under in a few years, and under new ownership it will try out new formats that will include live music, our bands will play there and find out if it sucks, and on and on...
M, you don't have to say we ALL have mad chops. branden and i know we have the chops while bobby and chris do as they're told (to be fair bobby is expanding and growing as a muscian every day). Cliff (?) may be a name I throw out frequently. i'm quite attached to my anomynity and vague presence. thanks for the kind words, and i'll catch you at a SP show.
