Should I Stay Or Should I go?

Recently Tommy, my brother from other parents, sent me an email asking me to keep a date open because his band (Alloy) is finally going to be playing a show after a long hiatus. They've been spending their time practicing and recording, when they could get together, but they also knew that they needed to start playing live again. Not only do they have a gig lined up on April 7th but it in fact will be their highest profile appearance ever. In the past they had played mainly at a small bar for no money, solely with the intent of gaining experience and getting their name out to be recognized. Now they get the chance to potentially have more people listen to them at this one show than all their other ones combined.

Then comes the drawback to the scenario, where they will be playing and who it's for. They are to play outside the Tea Party Convention that will be held in Tulsa. My question to him when we next talked was if it was in support of the Tea Party or in protest of them. If it were the latter then that would be great, something that I could wholeheartedly get behind. If it were the former, well, I have reservations about being there even if it is only to help the band set up and break down.

You see, I feel that the Tea Party cloaks itself in patriotism yet hidden underneath there lurks an ugly side consisting of old school prejudice and racism. They say a lot of things that sound right, less government and so forth but then it seems that all too frequently a local leader or spokesperson gets far too comfortable with themselves and ends up sounding off with some bizarre comments about race or immigration. Maybe it's just me and my perception but that's how I feel about it.

So now I was perplexed about what I should do. If I came to the show I felt like I would be endorsing the Tea Party even though I don't like them or agree with what they stand for. At the same time I really want to be there for my friends, not just as a roadie, but to see them playing and hopefully gaining new fans. I may not be a member of the band but I'm probably as close to it as anyone can be without actually playing an instrument. After all, I write lyrics for them, roadie their gigs when I can, try to find gigs for them and am designing and will run their website. With this dilemma what's a poor guy to do?

Luckily Tommy and I talked it over and used each other as sounding boards to see what each other thought. Tommy completely understood my viewpoint and told me that if I felt that strongly about the Tea Party then I should follow my convictions and not think twice about it. One thing he did say was that by playing outside the convention it is not as if the band is endorsing the Tea Party. If they were playing inside and were part of the itinerary then that would be a different story altogether.

Let me be clear here, the band itself does not endorse the Tea Party. Tommy is on record as saying that while there are things he does like about them there are also things that he doesn't like. If you take the time to listen to the lyrics of the band you'll find that the way I feel about groups like the Tea Party is evidenced fairly well. This is merely a chance to get some badly needed visibility for them as well as a chance to play a big show. There will be two other bands playing and I believe that Alloy will play last. Hopefully people will stop and listen and not just walk in or out.

The question for me now is what am I comfortable with? After I really thought about it I feel that since the band is not endorsing the Tea Party I need to be there with them. If anyone asks me my opinion I will readily provide it with enthusiasm, pulling no punches. Besides, I really don't think that a reporter will see me there and say "Hey, Why is Don Leach here? He says he doesn't support the Tea Party. He's a two faced lying jerk!" Once I climbed down from my high horse I decided that I'll use the opportunity to educate myself about the Tea Party and the way they operate. The old saying goes "Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer" or words to that effect so I'll take that to heart.

If you decide to show up and see me there please do not think badly of me. I'll just be there to rock out and support my friends. If you want to hear what the band sounds like you can look them up on ReverbNation. Just search for Alloy and select the one from Claremore, Ok. There are two songs (Silencer and The Blacksmith's Testament) and although they are far from finished at least you can have an idea of what the group sounds like. I'll also be putting more information on this blog when I get their website up and running. Maybe I'll even get a t-shirt made with my thoughts about the Tea Party that I can wear that day. Don't put it past me. Stranger things have been known to happen when I'm involved.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Local Music Showcase At The Flytrap Music Hall

Friday night while at work I received a call from a former employee and dare I say it, friend, who we will call Thomas (basically because that's his name) because he wanted to let me know that his band Kaizen Pursuit (google it for an explanation) would be playing Saturday night at the Flytrap Music Hall and he wanted me to come see them play. This was to be the 2nd time they had played at a local showcase for newer bands at The Flytrap and he said they would probably play at around 9PM but the club hadn't given them any indication of what the order of bands would be.

Upon receiving the okay from my wife (AKA The Boss) I waited for the appropriate time and then jumped into my truck and made the drive in less than 10 minutes. After paying the $5 cover fee I ventured inside and quickly Thomas came up to me and informed me that I had just missed them. Unfortunately they had been the 1st band of the night. Since I hadn't seen Thomas for a few months I thought at least I could hang out for a little while and talk. Okay the thought that I'd paid the cover charge and hadn't even been able to see them play also crossed my mind.

The next band up (and the first for me to see) was, well I didn't catch their name. They sounded like Creed clones (not a good thing in my book) and nobody in the band had any stage presence whatsoever, least of all the vocalist. The most he could manage other than his double fist grab of the microphone was to a take a few shambling steps to one side as if he was some homeless person meandering around looking for something to eat. Luckily for him this is exactly the kind of gig where you can learn how to present yourself to a live audience. I will add that the drummer was very good.

The 3rd band was called Sleepwalking Home and basically they are a female fronted screamo rock band with a commercial sound to them. Again, not my kind of music but at least they had some energy and their vocalist definitely had stage presence. It's not perfected yet but she does have it. I can see how females would gravitate to this band simply because it has a female singer and that might help them in their drive to become bigger but that's not all that they've got. If you like this kind of music then give them a chance based upon the music first.

At this point I was all set to go but for some reason I decided to stay and check out the next band, if only for a song or two. Instead I ended up staying for their entire set. They were a cross between Cypress Hill and Sublime (they sounded like they could have come from Long Beach) as they had 3 rappers (2 who appeared to be Mexican American and 1 who looked like he was a white rasta) and a guitarist who looked like Mick Jones from The Clash. I believe their name was The Informers but since The Flytrap didn't bother to put anything up on their website I can't say for sure. Their set was a bit ragged in part because it seemed like in some songs they had left it open so that they could freeform rap and kind of tag in when they wanted to and then the song would come to a crashing halt. There were plenty of bright spots for me though and I think of the 3 bands they were the most promising because they are so different from the majority of commercial crud out there whether it is local or national. Give them a year or less to work on their song structures and smooth out the rough spots and then watch out. Now if only I could find some info about them on the web, so far I haven't been able to find anything.

There was to be at least 1 more band but I had to bow out since I have to get up early in the morning to teach my Sunday School class. That's right, I said it. Look, as I get up onto my soapbox I'll let you know that I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, mess around or try to force my views and beliefs on others but sometimes I do like to hear live music so cut me some slack. What someone wants to do is their business as long as they aren't hurting somebody else. Don't judge me on your past experiences and I won't judge you on mine. With that said it's now time to get to sleep so that I can get up and teach the aforementioned class. Tomorrow I'll come back and read over this to edit all of my mistakes so until then cut me some slack, I'm tired. Below is a video from Kaizen Pursuits first visit to The Flytrap, maybe next time I'll even be able to see them play.