Mobility and Energy
Mobility and movement will grab the attention of those seeing it from the corner of their eyes. It is a way to release and use energy. For musicians, a lot of it is energy they feed off from performing music and the audience members. It would be the theme of a most of these musicians on this night from Pointbreak to Death by Stereo. The lineup was packed, with Life and Limb, Elvis Cortez, the Venomous Pinks, and Toxic Energy four more bands playing this Friday night at the Yucca Tap Room.
Beginning with one of a few times for me was the guys of Pointbreak. They are yet another recent hardcore band discovery that I enjoyed from the get go. However, like the awesome Perplex, their set lasts about ten minutes so it is over quick. Regardless, what I caught so far was pretty solid and gives me a good feeling for what Pointbreak has to come.
Then was a band I had tried to catch once before, but missed by minutes, Life and Limb. A little history for me with this band goes back to their bassist’s, Tyler, old band Knucklebuster. I’ve seen members of the now dormant band go on to new projects, but not him until now. I have to say, they have assembled quite a fun band.
Corey, also in American Standards, has certainly picked up the art of moving around a room with a microphone. He does it well, making my picture taking and the performance impactful. I enjoyed every minute of catching Life and Limb. I can’t wait until I can do it again.
The night slowed a little down as Elvis Cortez, of Left Alone, graced us with a few songs on his acoustic. While, yes, he has an arsenal of Left Alone tracks, he has a good number of his own excellent solo work that he performed. He did a fantastic job at interacting with the audience, even taking requests occasionally. While a few of those there for the hardcore side weren’t sure who he was, I found watching Elvis this Friday night a pleasure.
Following him was the first Phoenix area performance and my first time seeing the Venomous Pinks with their new three piece lineup. New to this lineup is Cassie, who drums with Union 13. She has energy on those drums that invigorate the live performance of these familiar songs I’ve heard many times before.
You could see Drea and Gaby more relaxed too. They were more smiles, having fun up on that stage than I’d seen in a little while. Changes aren’t always the happiest thing to have to do. Nonetheless, it looks like the recent ones the Venomous Pinks made have only improved them.
Toxic Energy would be the band that was a surprise to me. After seeing a show open up with two hardcore bands, and knowing Death by Stereo is one too, I expected their tour mates to be of the same genre. Yet, with these guys, we actually got a superb skate punk band from Southern California.
As with the theme at the top of this, they moved and fed off of the energy of the songs. They made jokes, bringing more joy between their songs. What a fantastic discovery that Death by Stereo brought with them. Toxic Energy is a band that I won’t soon forget.
Of course, Death by Stereo was the one to leave you wanting more even after watching five prior musicians. Efrem wasn’t standing still, and I didn’t expect him to. This night he moved from stage to sound booth to bar to the craft side of the Yucca Tap Room with microphone in hand. I have watched him front two different bands, including currently Voodoo Glow Skulls. That has served to reinforce that he is one of the best front men in punk rock.
You find the rest, JP, Dan, and Robbo, matching his performance style and energy. They treat that stage like a playground. They are moving around, singing vocals into different mics, and performing on various parts of that stage. My expectations already high going in from catching them for only my first time in September, they delivered once again. Death by Stereo capped a excellent night of music with a superb set of their own.
