Burning Sons, Powers, The New Loud @ Bayview Brew Haus

I walked away from the Saturday night’s The New Loud, Powers, and Burning Sons show at the Bay View Brew Haus on KK really, really impressed. All of the bands were incredible, and the staff at the venue was really friendly, including the owner, Steve Fix, who it turns out is a friend of a friend of mine.

The opener, The New Loud, was a 3 piece kinda poppy/punk-ish band with a synthesizer (and they knew how to use it!). The drummer had a pretty regular-looking drum set (although, come to think of it, he may not have had a bass drum) and also an electronic drum pad or two. These guys had TONS of energy, and although one of the songs had a little too much of the ’80s synth thing going on, did a really good job. Worthy of note: someone onstage had something that sounded suspiciously like a cowbell… [also worthy of note: you can read a review of their new full-length, Measures Melt, right here on Fan-Belt! -ed.]

Next up was Powers, a sorta punky metally outfit that, for a song or two, bordered on speed metal. The singer kept making promises he didn’t follow through with, though, like the time he claimed that the next one was “a ballad…like a Skid Row song you’d sing to some chick” and proceeded to jump into some punk/speed metal thing. He also, at one point, claimed that they were next covering “Stairway to Heaven”, and they may have, but the song was too fast and the vocals were beyond the speed at which my ear could discern them…but I’m pretty sure there was no reference to anyone buying a stairway to anywhere, much less heaven.

Last to perform was Burning Sons, a 4 piece kinda punky crew that includes the drummer and guitarist of the Speedfreaks. Some guys with a whole lot of extra energy decided it’d be a good idea to start a pit in front of the stage….fortunately, it didn’t get overly crazy and there were only a few people in it. A good thing, too, as it was the same area in which the singer, Dillon, positioned himself for (at least most of) the performance. It might be worthy of noting here how diverse the crowd was: there were guys in sandals and polo shirts next to guys (and women) covered in tattoos and wearing Doc Martens. There was this one guy…wearing turquoise spandex shorts and a plaid shirt…who really, really seemed to enjoy himself and the bands…it’s always interesting to run into characters like him. He even jumped onstage at one point, grabbed the mic, and implored the audience to dance (I later learned that he’s a friend of the band…they don’t let just ANYONE wearing spandex jump onstage…) But I digress. Drummer extraordinaire, Dan Du Chaine, (also co-owner of Rush-Mor Records on KK), was absolutely incredible. The whole outfit had tons of energy, and were a lot of fun to listen to.

Overall, ’twas a fun night, great show, and friendly people. Five stars!