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Show me your DIESEL face! -- Ken MacKenzie
Category: Concerts
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 Title: West Memphis Three Awareness Day Benefit Show  | views:1049 |  June 3rd was West Memphis Three Awareness Day. If you don’t know who the WM3 are, you should; the rest of the world is catching on quick, and benefit shows were held on Saturday night in cities all over the US, and even as far as Venezuela and the Czech Republic! This past Saturday was an unusual night; a unique night. Sadly, it’s not often that the top bands of Raleigh come together to play shows; as Steve at KNC told me, “Chapel Hill normally has the leg up on that one”. But, not on June 3rd at the Raleigh Music Hall! Some of the best musicians in Raleigh came out to dedicate their time and talents to raise funds to support the West Memphis Three, and left us all begging for more.
The Dirty Little Heaters; a two-piece from Durham, start the evening with a punk beat. With Reese on guitar and vocals, and Melissa on drums, the set starts with a screeching explosion of percussion, feedback, and that beat…you know the one…the one that makes think, “Yeahhh…let’s break some shit!”. The crowd warms instantly, with songs like, “Who’s Got The Blow?” and “Cherry Van”, it’s too damn catchy; you can’t help but get up and move. Reese treats us to a dead-on impression of Rob Halford, when talking about the charges brought against Judas Priest many years ago for being “Satanic”….”Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”…the falsetto squeal brings cheers and laughter. The energetic set, with it’s middle-finger lyrics and contagious rhythm, started the night off perfectly.
While my ears are still ringing, the second stage comes alive with Big City Reverie. Performing their freshman attempt at an acoustic set, no one was the wiser; the sound was pure butter. No big silly obvious hooks, just a consistent groove that cradled the audience a favorite recliner chair. BCR is a great marriage of pure and simple rock –n- roll, with miles of melody. “Me Thanking You”, came off artistically with the all acoustic set, with a little indie-rock whimsy. The sound is warm, even soothing, drawing the people so close to the stage, Pete Wilson could hardly be seen, save for when the flash bulbs of a nearby camera popped every few minutes.
The schedule is break-neck, but you’d never know it, as Rob Farris moves from one stage to the other, as one band segues into the next, like someone had popped in a soundtrack behind the bar. As one band ended, the next started like clockwork. Rock –n- Roll all night long..
BCR gave way to Kindness of Strangers, a rock act, in the vein of those 70’s iconic bands most of us still have on vinyl. Jeff Whatley’s voice is edgy, a beautiful contrast to the rhythm behind him, would make Robert Plant take notice. “When Is The Answer” feels like a vintage performance, from better times past, but was luckily happening right in front of us. Take some jazz, some surf, some Plant & Page, a bit of funk, stir it in a pot, and you’ve got KOS, rockin’ you steady, from start to finish.
With the room filling, Dollface takes the second stage. If you’ve never seen Rebecca-Dollface-Kane perform, I demand you attend her next show; it’s a peculiar experience, that’s fresh, not having come off any rock assembly line. It’s just Dollface, her guitar and her drummer on the stage, and the thick, heavy sound feels like someone dropped a blanket of cool on us all. “When the Earth is silent, and the Devil is sleeping, Beauty can be violent, it can be deceiving”, she sings, as “Black Widow” shakes the hips of the pretty gals down front. Rebecca’s husky voice turns the club into a bedroom for the duration of the set sans a cold shower some undoubtedly needed. She begins a passionate rant about the WM3, ending the set by suddenly screaming, “Free the West Memphis Three” and throwing her arms in the air to reveal her handcuffed wrists.
A rumbling from the opposite stage begins almost immediately, as Sold rips into their first song. Lead singer, Charlie, is already in overdrive, with a death grip on the mic, swinging his head low, then rocking back, legs positioned as if he was about to catch a boulder. Sold are a growing favorite in Raleigh, and why is plenty clear, only half way through the first song. They bring the rock, super-sized! The crowd responds with hoots and applause, as the guys treated us all to a flawless set, full of smooth riffs and a section of rhythm that penetrated the spine, forcing our bodies to rock and writhe along with Charlie.
As Sold’s set ends, beautiful psychedelic chords fill the room, as Lactose Quervo’s performance begins. Singer Mo flows into the first song of the set, “Cocoon”, a gorgeous and emotionally engaging song. Mo’s like snake charmer, and her soaring lyrics draw the crowd closer and closer, until all are at her command, front and center. Lactose is like nothing you’ve ever heard; kind of like musical love making, with black light posters on the walls, and the bong on the nightstand. The range of Mo’s voice is awe inspiring, and she belts it out, obviously overtaken herself, dancing and twisting; you can’t take your eyes off her. LQ’s set was easily one of the best I’ve seen in years, and from the response of the crowd, I think they’d all agree with me.
It’s time for another switch, and stage one comes to life with Patty Hurst Shifter. Having gigged out of town the night before, coming straight from there to the show, the guys must be exhausted, but it certainly didn’t show. “I fuckin love this band!!”, a friend screams to me over the den of guitar and drums, and the rest of the crowd apparently agree. Patty Hurst Shifter’s sound crawls in your ear, and lives there. Having bypassed the cookie cutter sound of many of today’s rock acts, PHS continues to beat a path of their own, much to Raleigh’s delight and pride. “She’s Like A Song”, a melodic piece of art, led by twanging lyrics, turns the bodies pressed against the stage into a unified wave of grooving, hands raising towards singer Chris Smith. Yeah…I fuckin’ love that band too.
The Bleeding Hearts take the stage as PHS leaves it. Another of Raleigh’s finest, The Bleeding Hearts launch into their set, melodic and soulful rock, that from the start emotionally engages the crowd. A party atmosphere is created, with folks dancing and singing along to many of the songs. Sam Madison’s voice and lyrics are so accessible, it’s as if he’s having a personal conversation with every person there. Energy crackles on the stage, and moves into the crowd, as TBH commands the stage like they own it, and Sam’s banter in between tunes, causes a ruckus amongst the gals down front. “If You Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover”, a new song penned by Sam for the West Memphis Three, draws the whistling and applause it deserves, being a heartfelt groove of a song, another masterpiece under their belts. Their set is the perfect end to an amazing night, and screams for “One more! One more!”, come from the crowd, who couldn’t get enough of them. I couldn’t either. One more guys? C’mon….just one more!
~Nancy
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| Review submitted: 6/7/2006
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