4th St. Ralli’s – September 21st – 2006

(Ya Ya Boom Project, Hit By A Bus, Left Brain)

The greatest perk about being in a band is that you get to witness other bands/musicians that you would most likely never experience outside of the norm. To then assimilate it all in its rawest form while creating new allies as an added bonus. Ya Ya Boom Project blew me away. I had seen Marisa before clashing it out with The Cobra Group but not like this. Their music is smart and packed with detonating choruses. I sponged up some great techniques from guitarist. Hit By A Bus showed the crowd that not only do they rock but they have fans who will follow them into Don Schrader’s soiled loincloth. They were going crazy to their music while Gio commanded her minions. Thanks to the always vigilant Simfonik Mike for the refreshing beverage and to everyone who came out and stuck around for our set on a Late Thursday Night.

Kickass Night!

The smell of music in the morning...or in my case, the smell of alcohol, sweat, cigarettes, etc. I had an appointment with a Cobra//group member before I was going to head down to Ralli's. Dr. Pat the guitar player is a helluva guy and he introduced to Smuggler's somethingorother Scotch. Cheap, but more body than MacGregor. Anyway I thought music was starting at 9, so I thought I was going to miss YaYa Boom Project. But to my delight, the Boomer's were rockin away upon my arrival and damn. These guys are really fuckin' musical. Harmonies out the yingyang, and spot on harmonies no less. Drummer plays what looks like a Ludwig Vistalite. If I had one complaint, it was that dude's snare wasn't quite loud enough. Go see YaYa Boom Project! Hit By A Bus went on next. We've jammed twice with HBAB and they seem to get tighter each time. Dude's got a helluva drumkit. 4 toms on top, two on the floor. Makes me feel kinda inadequate...Once again, harmonies. I'm a sucker for good male/female harmonies and HBAB didn't disappoint, although at times it seemed like maybe the monitor mix wasn't quite right. Gio had some slight technical problems at the very beginning and then looked as though she had forgotten to plug something in (she hadn't, but it was still funny) but the sound guy had it fixed very quickly. I like HBAB. They play catchy tunes with a good, hard edge to 'em, and they're all like the opposite of me (young, skinny, good-looking). Cheers, m'am and sirs! We'd like to rock with y'all again! By this time, I'm starting to feel it. My frosty beverage of choice is Newcastle Brown Ale and it flowed pretty freely last night as well as a wee bit o' the MacGregor in the kitchen. So my good friends Left Brain go on, and it was pretty late, by usual Ralli's standards. If you haven't seen Left Brain yet, y'all need to make it your mission in life to do so. These fellas are some of the nicest, humblest, hard working blokes on the scene who write these EPIC, complex arrangements. TONS of melody, from all 4 members. Really good tones from all and talk about a band who steps it up a notch each time I see them. Mad respect for these cats. All in all this show definitely had the Plague seal of approval!

my ears hurt.

quote:

Originally posted by Left Brain:

Hit By A Bus showed the crowd that not only do they rock but they have fans who will follow them into Don Schrader’s soiled loincloth.

Nasty! But, those are some dedicated fans!

Ya Ya Boom is great! They were happy to take the stage first, and we lucked out getting such a talented (and delightfully bass-driven) band on the bill. The audience was totally digging them and more people kept coming in during their set to see what was going on. I will definately catch the Ya Ya's again. They also busted out a brand new song and those who missed it have my permission to cry a river. The stage at Ralli's can be a little bit small at times. I have no idea how Hit By a Bus managed to all fit on there, and still manage to get into it the way they did. These cats are great performers and the LB'ers dug them. One of their long haired male fans looked like he was having the time of his life. Fun LB set. We played a few requested old school songs toward the end and I had some great blunders. Trouble with requests is when you havent practiced them for a really long time.

Everyone said it was a great lineup, so thanks Ya Ya Boom and HBAB.

Holy cow! A deluge of compliments! I must show my mates, (who don't dare to squawk).

We had such a good time. I never know what sets are really going to catch fire like they're supposed to, but that one did, so I was stoked.

Hit By A Bus roooolz! I love those guys, the fast changes, the sweet melodies on top of the really heavy stuff. Tighter than ever. For some reason, my sister and I make Screech laugh, even when we're not trying to be funny
I had to, HAD TO, go to Burt's to see Blowfly. The guy's a legend. And he's a dirty as they say he is. And he wears a cape.
But I swung back around to check out the end of Left Brain's set. (Machina and Los would have stayed too, but Ralli's was kicking out the underaged band members). I'd had too many Cape Cods at this point, but from what I could tell, that's a very solid, very tight band. We'd be happy to play that bill again anytime. I'll have to check you guys out again (Oct. 14 @ Atomic anyone?) when I'm a little more together, i.e., not slooshy.

ps. Having played Ralli's only once before, I didn't realize that was late for them. I hope we didn't start late or go on too long.

pps. Thanks for fliering and promoting and setting up the show LB!