Holding Out For A Hero

Starting back in February, there was a series of concert to promote some local bands. There was some cross-promotion with a comic book release in May at the Great Hall. I had gone to the first one and decided to go the final one on Saturday. The cover charge came with a "limited edition no. 1 issue" of "Band of Heroes". I was disappointed that it was still shots of play-doh figurines instead of the comic-book art of the original poster. The story was an incoherent mish-mash involving the bands Lovely Killbots, Bella Clava, The Wilderness, and The Ruby Spirit. I think (and hope) it was just a fun personal project.

First up was Alphabot! I saw this one-man band a few months back. He still retained his manic energy even if the early crowd was possibly even sparser than his night at the Garrison. But then, the crowd never materialized for this show. Lovely Killbots was the official first act on the bill. For me, it was an ironic gig for them. On the one hand, the sound-mix was much better than their CD release party at Sneaky Dee's on May 7. On the other hand, there wasn't nearly as many people to enjoy their danceable electronica.

When The Wilderness came on, some of their fans crowded close to the stage. For the first couple of numbers, they distributed balloons so people can blow them out and throw them around. For the second song, they also had a stage hand flip posters with hand-written lyrics a la Bob Dylan. Despite their high energy, I didn't find myself engaged by their music.

With my energy ebbing, I didn't stay Bella Clava or The Ruby Spirit. Next time I'll try to catch these female-fronted bands.