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Level 5 Showcase featuring The Vacancies, 7 Tongues, Another Mother,
Nucleon, and Morticia's Chair
The Agora Ballroom 11-22-02
This was a
great bill for anyone interested in the breadth and diversity of the
Cleveland music scene. The only thing the bands had in common was a
practice space, known as Level 5. That, and the quality of their
music.
Morticia's
Chair started off the night to a small crowd with a set of gothic tinged
alternative rock, similar to early Cult or The Cure in their darker moments.
The band features a nice blending of male and female vocals over a solid
rhythmic foundation and jangling guitar. Occasional bits of synth and
frequent use of the fog machine added to the band's atmospheric performance.
Next up was
Nucleon, a band I've seen and enjoyed several times in the past. They
have been absent from the scene for a while due to a string of bad luck, but
they're back in action and ready to destroy you once again. Although
most of the crowd didn't seem that moved by the band's heavy space rock
sounds, the band nonetheless played an excellent set, including my favorite
song of theirs "50,000 Feet Tall".
Another Mother
have been around for a relatively short time (about a year) but are already
making a name for themselves with their passionate hard rock. Their
singer has a bit of a Pearl Jam/Creed sort of voice and the band displays a
high level of musicianship. AM was the first band of the night to get
a sizable contingent of people out on the floor, and they went over well
with the crowd.
7 Tongues
followed Another Mother with a punishing set of modern metal influenced by
Pantera, early Fear Factory, and the like. Their high energy
performance even cause a small mosh pit to break out. Although far
from unique sounding, the band was excellent and will no doubt go over well
with area metal fans.
Smogveil
recording artists The Vacancies closed the evening with a set of in your
face rock 'n' roll. Although joking that they would sound like ABBA
after 7 Tongues performance, that quickly proved to be untrue. Playing
like they had all just downed a six pack of Jolt Cola each, the band was
constantly in motion as they tore through their repertoire of punk anthems.
Although some of the audience had left after 7 Tongues, there was still a
good crowd with many fans coming down to the floor to better experience the
sonic assault.
For pictures
from this show, click here.
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