Sidekick
Live @ The Anarchy Library
Reviewed By: Stephan of Last Collapse
So I was stoked to hear that we were playing
with these guys. I had heard some good things about them but had never heard
any of their stuff. I was happy I was able to see them live to get a real feel
for how the band performs. To start off, this band was fucking fun. They had fast paced music with that old school feel. Nothing
gets me going like an old school sounding band with the fans they bring. Moshing
to the music and rocking out were no problem with these guys. Fast paced stuff
that made me want to punch the guy in the face next to me. It was great. The
only downside (and Im not really sure if this is the bands fault) was the sound. The
drum kick could not be heard what so ever. The guitars seemed to be at the right
levels and the vocals were a little hard to understand, but that could have been because there were people being physically
thrown into band. I think under different sound circumstances (and everyone had
their own equipment) they would have sounded awesome. Definitely a good live show to take the kids to see. I havent been to a real fun punk show like that in a while. Good
times and Id say a 4 out of 5. Good job guys.
www.Sidekickpunk.com
Stephan - Last Collapse
California
United
Live @ The Troubadour
Reviewed By: Ryan Of AmeriKan Made
August 25th 2003
Last night I saw a band called California United. It
was their first show and it featured the bass player (Brett) and singer (Zoli) of Ignite. Other than the singer's voice,
nothing else was even remotely Ignite-like. The band sounded very main stream, like the type of stuff that could easily
be on the radio, but I'd rather hear them than pretty much anything that KROQ has to offer. The songs all had a hook,
and after I heard the 40 or so minute set, the first thing I did was go out to the car and pop in the demo. I brought
my guitar player with me, who if it isn't fast and punk, you can guarantee he probably won't like it. Surprsingly, he
too expressed appriciation for this band. Most of the songs were slower and heavier, more like the pace of Creed,
backed by Zoli's voice which really gave the band it's original sound. The band also seemed to have a message... I'm
not sure exactly what it is, but you can bet we'll find out in the month's to come. This band must have dragged their
expensive entourage down to the Troubadour with them, because they had all the lighting going along with each cymbal crash
like a god damn arena rock band, with old black and white war movie clips shot from a projector and such going on in the background.
At the end of the night I walked up to Brett and gave him props. "The best live band I've seen in a couple years."
Though not necessarily my style, they were extremely tight... the type of band that practices 7 days a week and who you could
tell does this for a living. These boys are out to get signed and most definately will.
Ryan- Amerikan Made
