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Skywave with Happy Scrappy at Coyote West in Norfolk, VA - 9/12/03
So this show qualifies as the first concert Ive seen in Norfolk, VA. In general, Coyote West seems like a pretty nice venue to me. It has a friendly atmosphere, and some of the patrons who may or may not have known what they were in for with this evenings entertainment seemed to take everything with a smile. It was pouring rain for most of the evening, but a good crew of Skywave fans still showed up for the concert. I arrived early and talked a bit with some of the band members, and I found out that there are a lot of developments surrounding the Skywave camp nowadays. Their bassist has moved to New York where he is collaborating a bit in another band, and the rest of the band is still based around Fredericksburg, VA. Lucky for us though, Skywave is still very active despite the geographic challenges, and they are actually preparing to release a new album soon. Although this is a band that is always mind-blowing live, some of their earlier recordings had trouble catching them in all of their glory. Luckily, they seemed to have tackled this problem head on with their recent releases, and their recordings are just getting better and better as time goes on, so the new album should be a real treat. Starting off the night was the band Happy Scrappy. These guys are from around Norfolk I believe, and they were certainly an interesting act. The band had three young guys fiddling with synthesizers in a pretty chaotic style. They played about four songs I believe, but each one was kind of an extended blend of various noises that certainly didnt fit a strict pattern. The equipment sounded like it was straight from 1981, and a little fog machine and a strobe light helped keep things interesting. A little odd to me were the screams that punctuated a few of the songs and the costumes that, among other things, included one guy who never took off a red hooded mask. The show ended with a verse from a song by A Flock of Seagulls, and it was pretty clear that these guys were just having a good time experimenting with the sounds under their synthesizers control. Fun stuff, but its probably a bit chaotic for the taste of your average Joe. So Skywave came on pretty late, and they played a short tight set. The brief show was just about perfect though, especially since I didnt want to be deaf all weekend. The first thing to note about Skywave is that they are LOUD but loud in the best way possible of course. The silence was shattered by a strip of distortion, and then the noise piled on tenfold and didnt end until the last song. So, yeah, Skywave could be called a shoegazer band if you want, a style that actually seems to be reemerging in the underground. Just check out Skywaves website, and youll find a huge list of shoegazer bands that are active today. As a special treat tonight, a guitarist from Alcian Blue joined Skywave for the performance and helped to make their sound even more potent. What can I say about this band? They hit their groove like Ride, and they pile on noise in a way that would make William and Jim Reid proud. After all, their bassist has been known to engineer his own distortion pedalsthis is obviously something Skywave takes very seriously. A newer song had them distorting the snare drums into a sick goth-style drum noise that could make the Sisters of Mercy sound like house music by pure comparison. I think the band ended with the killer track Dont Say Slow that is presently available on a limited edition 7 with artwork that could probably put your average piece of vinyl to shame. Fabulous band. Fabulous show. Keep your eyes out for these guys as they play around the east coast. Skywaves really got a good thing going.
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