[For a full gallery of photos from this show, visit
http://www.mikeminehart.com/entry-1-24-09/index.html.]
A billing of three excellent bands like these is undoubtedly a can't-miss show. A lot of people must have also realized that, as the late 21+ performance sold out days in advance and I found myself without a ticket for it. So I wound up going to the early all-ages show instead, which was also packed.
The funny thing about all-ages shows, besides the obvious presence of under-agers, is how certain bands react to the young audience.
The Soviet Machines, a band of three pretty young dudes themselves, kicked off the show. And as I would assume is the norm for The Soviet Machines, they didn't change a thing about their language.
Cussing up a storm at an all-ages show is something I usually frown upon, but in this case it was actually pretty badass. Call me crazy, but these guys remind me a lot of early Green Day, which is a huge accolade in my book because Green Day is by far one of my favorite bands of all-time. A trio of three young dudes playing catchy punk rock and going crazy on stage... hmm... that does sound familiar...
I've been intrigued by The Soviet Machines ever since I first saw them at the Taste of Minnesota in 2007. They won the battle of the bands for it, and as such, got to play on the main stage. It took me a year to see them again after that at The Varsity, but now I'm definitely convinced that this is a band worth checking out more frequently. Young and full of potential, I see a bright future ahead if they keep doing what they do. And I see no reason why they wouldn't.
Yet as some bands rise to prominence, others will inevitably see their time cut short far too early. I didn't know until a week or so before this show that this was apparently the final time
The Alarmists would ever play, at least in their current incarnation. But how could this happen? The Alarmists have been one of my favorite bands
period ever since I first saw them back in 2006, and their EP release show at The Varsity that year proved to be the show of the year in my opinion.
(Lest we forget that the most epic moment of the year happened there as well, as Mike Schwandt from White Light Riot busted his head wide open early in the set and finished it while bleeding throughout. I sure hope someone got
a picture of that right after it happened anyway...)
The only real indication to me that this may have been their final show though was the fact that The Alarmists didn't play many of their new unrecorded songs like they had been in recent months. Maybe they played just one (it's not like I'm there writing setlists down, I'm shooting and enjoying the music), but it seemed to me that it was more of a "classic" set with tunes from the first two releases and their SXSW promo sampler.
I would've loved for their set to have ended with "Soldados", but alas, when they were finished I found myself feeling blissful from the music (as usual) but confused by what the future might hold for this band. You can't take one of the best bands this town has seen and erase them from existence, that's just not possible. If people can still talk about The Replacements and Hüsker Dü these days, then you'll probably hear me going on and on about The Alarmists when I'm 64...
Closing out the early show was another new favorite of mine,
Sick of Sarah. Their brand of poppy punk rock with a female twist (after all, it is an all-girl band) has really been stuck in my head as of late, and their dedicated following of fans was out in droves once again.
While soundchecking before their set, lead singer Abisha Uhl asked if it was okay to swear on stage, seeing how it was an all-ages show and everything. Someone pointed out the fact that The Soviet Machines were swearing up a storm during their set, so Sick of Sarah playfully obliged not to hold anything back as well. The band even brought up a friend of theirs to dance on stage at one point.
With plenty of energy and a crowd that sang along a lot of time, Sick of Sarah showed yet again why they are undoubtedly the best all-girl band in town, if not one of the best period. Go see them if you haven't already, and if you already have go see them again. Cause like I said before, you never really know for sure when a good band is going to call it quits.
