Spirit West Coast Review
Spent the weekend at Spirit West Coast. Here's my run-down on the bands I saw.
Rae - I'm not so much a fan. Not much original. Just loud and hard. And for some reason they had them playing 3 times over the course of the weekend.
Dizmas - I have them on my itunes. I thought they were decent before, but I have to say I enjoyed them. The lead singer is a little spastic, but he kept me entertained.
Pound Foolish - Could have done without this one. San Diego rock. Keeping it loud. Keeping it real big hair.
David Crowder Band - Ok, I'm very biased on this one because he's one of my absolute favorites. Highlights included busting out a keytar and doing some bluegrass "I Saw the Light." We then saw him later that night at the New Song Cafe where he played some acoustic stuff and talked about the stories behind a couple songs.
Jeremy Camp - This guy could definitely beat me up. Never been a huge fan, but he's a good perfromer and I enjoyed it. I also remembered I saw him way back in 2000 at a church in Fresno. He is also Travis Collins' evil twin.
Prague - Discovering these guys was a highlight of the festival. A couple of the guys in our high school group know them and we had already decided to have them come play a show next month at our church. I'm REALLY excited about that now that I've heard them. You need to check them out.
Skillet - I haven't listened much to these guys since high school. Lots of energy. Good show. Kind of an industrial/NIN sort of sound.
Newsboys - Ok, I'm not a big fan of the Newsboys. I will admit to owning their Take Me to Your Leader CD, but I was young. But I've heard for years that they put on a great show. And they do. The highlight was when the drum set stinking lifted 10 feet off the ground, flipped 90 degree forward toward the audience, and then spun....the drummer playing perfectly the entire time. It was worth it just to see those two minutes.
My Second Chance - If I had to typecast a lot of the music that's out there right now, this would be it. Bunch of 17 year olds from Coalinga dressed exactly alike, raising their guitars at the right time, and headbanging in unison. I fear that a glam rock revival must be right around the corner.
Bradley Hathaway - Technically not a band. He's a poet (from Porterville...it must have been Central Valley day). I wasn't sure about him at first, but I'm now a fan. He ends each poem with "Next Poem." I like that.
Joy Electric - A little electronica is good for all of us. Highlights include dancing crazy guy, dancing pirate guy, and a sweet remote controlled blimp with "JE" on the side.
Building 429 - Never heard of them before this event. Typical rock stuff, but solid. I enjoyed it.
Audio Adrenaline - Always a good show. They're calling it quits because I guess the singer has throat cancer. Lots of energy. Lots of crowd participation.
There it is. There were about 5 times that many bands that played, but I couldn't see them all because a) I can't be in more than one place at a time and b) I'm getting old and can only do so many concerts in a weekend. Take a listen to some of these guys and see what you think.
Rae - I'm not so much a fan. Not much original. Just loud and hard. And for some reason they had them playing 3 times over the course of the weekend.
Dizmas - I have them on my itunes. I thought they were decent before, but I have to say I enjoyed them. The lead singer is a little spastic, but he kept me entertained.
Pound Foolish - Could have done without this one. San Diego rock. Keeping it loud. Keeping it real big hair.
David Crowder Band - Ok, I'm very biased on this one because he's one of my absolute favorites. Highlights included busting out a keytar and doing some bluegrass "I Saw the Light." We then saw him later that night at the New Song Cafe where he played some acoustic stuff and talked about the stories behind a couple songs.
Jeremy Camp - This guy could definitely beat me up. Never been a huge fan, but he's a good perfromer and I enjoyed it. I also remembered I saw him way back in 2000 at a church in Fresno. He is also Travis Collins' evil twin.
Prague - Discovering these guys was a highlight of the festival. A couple of the guys in our high school group know them and we had already decided to have them come play a show next month at our church. I'm REALLY excited about that now that I've heard them. You need to check them out.
Skillet - I haven't listened much to these guys since high school. Lots of energy. Good show. Kind of an industrial/NIN sort of sound.
Newsboys - Ok, I'm not a big fan of the Newsboys. I will admit to owning their Take Me to Your Leader CD, but I was young. But I've heard for years that they put on a great show. And they do. The highlight was when the drum set stinking lifted 10 feet off the ground, flipped 90 degree forward toward the audience, and then spun....the drummer playing perfectly the entire time. It was worth it just to see those two minutes.
My Second Chance - If I had to typecast a lot of the music that's out there right now, this would be it. Bunch of 17 year olds from Coalinga dressed exactly alike, raising their guitars at the right time, and headbanging in unison. I fear that a glam rock revival must be right around the corner.
Bradley Hathaway - Technically not a band. He's a poet (from Porterville...it must have been Central Valley day). I wasn't sure about him at first, but I'm now a fan. He ends each poem with "Next Poem." I like that.
Joy Electric - A little electronica is good for all of us. Highlights include dancing crazy guy, dancing pirate guy, and a sweet remote controlled blimp with "JE" on the side.
Building 429 - Never heard of them before this event. Typical rock stuff, but solid. I enjoyed it.
Audio Adrenaline - Always a good show. They're calling it quits because I guess the singer has throat cancer. Lots of energy. Lots of crowd participation.
There it is. There were about 5 times that many bands that played, but I couldn't see them all because a) I can't be in more than one place at a time and b) I'm getting old and can only do so many concerts in a weekend. Take a listen to some of these guys and see what you think.
This entry was posted by Mike Lovato, on
Tuesday, May 30, 2006.
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