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Still Chances of Arson Brian Linville March 7th, 2004 The Boardwalk -- SNL's Editor in Chief, Brian Linville, stopped by the Boardwalk to catch the Sacramento stop for the My Hotel Year, Lonely Kings, Still Life Projector tour. Local heavy weights Key To Arson headlined the event that also featured the relatively new punk band Chances Are, who celebrated their CD release party. A line had formed outside the Orangevale club a good hour before the show started. The crowd consisted largely of high school kids dressed in their finest Hot Topic attire that swarmed the stage the moment the doors openned and stayed there until the club closed. First up, Orlando natives, My Hotel Year took the stage, playing to a packed house, most of which had never heard of the band before. MHY easily won the crowd over with their own style of raw rock n’ roll with rich, clean vocals, choppy versus and catchy dual vocal harmony choruses. Guitarists Ryan Fleming and Travis Adams traded back lead vocals while James Woodrich on bass and Patrick O’Neil on drums laid down the rhythm. Travis had just a couple of problems with his voice cracking, from tiring out the higher part of his vocal range midway through their set. And some of the drum fills Patrick chose seemed strange and contrived. But over all, the band played amazingly tight.
The biggest stand out of the set was the second to last song played, Breathing Pattern in which Ryan held out an impossibly long note that brought cheers from the crowd. The band ended with what will no doubt one day be one of the band’s hits, Strongest Man Alive. Next up, was the young punk band from Folsom, Chances Are. With just a couple notes into the opening song, More Than You Deserve, the crowd erupted into the first mosh pit of the night. The pit would last throughout their six song set. Drummer Isaac Fratini cycled through rock beats, to punk beats keeping enough changes for even people with the shortest of attention spans. Rhythm guitarist Joshua Castillo kept most of the chord work going. Lead guitarist Derrick Fields, hit several flat notes singing back up, but added a lot to the melody of the band’s sound with his guitar harmonics. Though most of the constant tempo and time signature changes seemed unnatural and at times distracting, bass player and lead singer Erik Fidel displayed his rich singing ability that would carry the band through the set. No doubt in time, Chances Are will eventually be one of the better bands in town. Veteran rockers, Lonely Kings hit the stage next. The band played an interesting mix of rock with a little bit of an old school punk influence, that delved from hardcore at times to eerie and melodic at others. Such dynamics really shone through in songs like Buried Alive, which musically alone sounded angry and dirgy at the same time even without the lyrically dramatic vocals provided by front man Jake D.
Clear crowd favorites, Still Life Projector arrived to play fourth. This would mark their hometown warm up show before the band plans to open for Die Trying and Papa Roach at the Colonial Theater next week. Focusing mostly on a rock sound, with catchy pop to aggro vocals and at times, melodic to heavy guitar work, Still Life Projector matched their powerful sound with an energetic stage show while the audience moshed, crowd surfed, and sang along. With Ryan Casey on drums, Lennon Hudson on bass, Scott Simpson and Kris Wright supplying guitars, and front man Jerry Reynolds handling vocal duties, Still Life Projector showed the huge Boardwalk crowd why they’re the powerhouse band on 720 Record’s list of artists. About half the crowd cleared out after Still Life Projector finished, leaving a little over two hundred concert goers on hand when the headlining act, Key to Arson took the stage. Those fans left would be treated to a set of almost a dozen beautifully crafted songs. The band started off with One Last Night, a song that blends rock groove with pop vocal sensibility with a chorus so catchy, you’ll swear you must have heard it before. Singer Matt got a little help from Jerry of Still Life Projector for the band’s second song, Enemy. Next, they kept up the pace with the hard hitting songs Battlestar and The End before slowing it down a bit with their melodic groove Front the Lie that ended with a double time chorus.
Half way through their set, the band played the tribal, tom heavy song Wake Up. By the bridge of Wake Up, drummer Stixxx plays a series of paradiddles that, with the softer vocals and eerie guitar work, helped to build a dream like feeling. Continuing that dreamy like feeling, the band played a little bit of Van Halen's Panama then segued easily into their more aggressive song, I'll Be Gone which simply thumps thanks to the heavy bass provided by Mike. Showing their versatility, guitarist Zac switched to acoustic for the next song, the ballad Run While You Can. Key to Arson wrapped up their set with their song Throttle leaving the fans grabbing for picks, sticks, and set lists. |
