My First All Ages (a.k.a. Teeny bopper) heavy metal show

Saturday August 6, 2011
Hey The Police are playing over the speakers. Cool. And some of these young kids are actually singing the songs. Man I feel old. There are like 3 old people here. Me, one of the band member's dad and the guy who owns/ runs the place.
Where am I? In Baton Rouge at a thrift store watching (about to watch)5 young metal bands play. Why am I here. Madeline is friends with Mason, the drummer of one of the bands and she has seen 2 of these other bands (I think one of these bands is actually a Christian band) play a few times at an all ages venue in Slidell. (Actually the band isn't a Christian band but they were still pretty good - more on them later in the post).
Not many young folks here yet either. So far nobody is looking at me funny. Like. whats that old dude doing here?
I am old. I thought it was after 8 pm and they should be starting. But it is 5 minutes till. Actually this is a cool place. Old lamps along the wall on a shelf. There is an upstairs area. I will end up sitting there because the room where the bands play ( downstairs) is small.
Not that it matters but just for fun. I asked
Madeline if I am cramping her style. She gave the right answer. "no dad I'm glad you could bring me and hang out. Thanks."
Hey 2 more "old" people walked in. Must be parents.
8:02 pm. The first band is cranking up.
First little band. Iridescence. Not bad. Music was really good. Didn't understand all of the lyrics but hey. First band is done.
Cool. The Ramones are playing (actually they are playing the Ramones over the speakers) while the bands are changing over. I wish it was the actually Ramones. Its hot in here but no smoke. All ages show. Hey I won't smell like the House of Blues after this show. I won't have to change my smoky clothes in the garage and have my car smell like it for 3 days.
The local dog just walked in. Seriously a dog. The dog can get in ( he/she pushes the door open) but can't get out. So he/she (I didn't look) waits by one of the doors until someone opens it. Funny.
A couple of old people out the door. Must have been parents from the first band. But OK a couple more in.
Lions Among Wolves. Second band. Again good music but the sound quality of the equipment. Hard to hear much less understand. But who am I to judge.
So far this place is impressive mainly because you have a bunch of older teenagers hanging out having a good time. They aren't out on the streets. But if it weren't for the parents, the only adult would be the guy running the place.
Aw right. Playing the group Cake now in between bands. Cool a couple of more "old" folks walked in.
The third group Walking Under Water is playing. OK music but the vocals are horrible. Can't understand a word.
Calibrate the Massacre (what a name - I have to look into that one) is about to play. This is the band Mason is in.
Calibrate is finished. Very impressive musically. The 2 guitar players are very clean and the bass and drums kept the flow going. I could tell the bass and the drums were uniform. Best band of the night so far. But the vocals - again, can't understand the lyrics too good and can't hear them either.
After their set, Mason grabs a guitar and he and one of the guitar players from Calibrate impress the crowd with a guitar trade off. Both guys can play the axe. They remind me of Zakk Wylde when he first hit the mainstream as Ozzy's guitarist. And a young George Lynch (Dokken). Clean, crisp guitar licks.
I like music - of all types. I like some better than others. So far the music from these young bands is impressive. I didn't say the vocals were impressive.
To Crown a King is next. This is one of the young bands out today that the young folks like very much. They actually have an EP out and their music is supposed to be really good. We'll see ...
OK almost midnight. The music is over. Time to head to Gonzales to sleep. This old dog is tired.
My final reflections on the night...
To Crown a King was supposed to be the best. And all in all they were - only because I could actually understand their vocals.
Musically - Calibrate was the best - hands down.
To Crown a King's drummer was supposed to be one of the best young drummers around. He was good, but Calibrates drummer - Mason - was far superior. Actually if I had to rank the drummers on the night TKAK's drummer would have been 4th best. But it wasn't about a competition, so all were good musically.
I think - at least 3 - of these bands could go pretty far if you had cleaner and better vocals. I know some younger kids wouldn't agree, but the people who have money to support (purchase records, etc) bands like these actually like to hear lyrics and vocals.
So, my first All Ages (aka teeny bopper) heavy metal show ended and I didn't even get into the mosh pit.
These young kids - although very energetic - don't respect the pit. Too many arms and fists moving around - out of control. It isn't about that. The mosh pit is about the feel. You gotta feel it and respect it.
One thing I did get a kick out of is that music really does live forever. When you have kids singing words to bands (the music played over the speakers in between sets)that were out before many of the kids were born, it is funny (in a good way) to me to watch. I got a kick out of it.