Rocking Around The Upright Bass
A great philosophy in concert going is to always be at shows early and support all the bands. However, tonight was an example of the struggle of managing my time between my day job and keeping up with my website. My aim is to keep a twenty four hour cycle of show posts unless I’m writing up something bigger like the Punk Rock Eve or the upcoming Viva PHX, where there is more to go through. Unfortunately, doing that means I made sure after my day job to get Thursday night up and missed the two openers on Friday. Regardless, I can say that the Freak Billyz when I have seen them put on a fantastic set. In addition, the rest of Friday’s show was excellent.
I got there in time to kick off my night of music with Buried in Red. The three piece is a ton of fun to watch. They want the crowd moving. They make the effort to help the cause too with Jay bringing down the bass off the stage for the pit to circle around, and Aaron joining him at times. Their finale with some of the guys in The Freak Billyz and Creepy Don joining in the singing was a killer end of set.
For the second time in a week’s span, I caught Creepsville 666 next. I can say the one big difference is that Geno, literally, let his hair down for the Yucca show tonight. These dudes are always having enjoyable time on stage. Geno and Matrick were moving around the most up there tonight. It was also the first time this night I noticed someone filming it. Of course, I took advantage of some extra stage light with a picture or two. I try not to use flash, because stage lights are meant to light correctly and so my blinding phone light isn’t in the eyes of the musicians.
Then the awesome dudes out of Long Beach played, Black Rose Phantoms. The first thing that dawned on me a couple songs into the set was there is a clear punk influence mixed into the Rockabilly/Psychobilly sound these guys have. Their encore was a cover of Rancid’s “Maxwell Murder” to clinch this. On top, their drummer, Jonathan, is doing double bass pedals bringing in a metal influence. These guys are remarkable to watch. They commented on how it had been a while since they last played here, so I’m hoping the gap is smaller for the next time they come to town.
