True Confessions of a Music Junkie: The Weekend Warrior

This week’s review is dedicated to the Weekend Warriors, the beer swilling, fun loving, average Joes with guitars who entertain us at our local watering holes. This weekend I saw Red Asphalt at Second Chance Bar & Grill in Dunkirk. It was a very small venue for a band with a lot of potential.

When my party arrived (fashionably late, of course) the band was well into a set of covers. The first couple songs were decent. “Cold Gin” by Kiss and ‘Gotta Get Away” by The Offspring got us started, but a poor cover of Live’s “All Over You” really dampened our mood. Some of the song choices seem to be too young for them, such as Eve 6’s “Inside Out”, which was also not a strong pick.

The biggest cover crime of the night was committed to Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Though it sounded like they chose to cover Pearl Jam’s version, it still lacked the vocal strength required to give it that fist in the air feeling you should get when you hear it. The “rump shaking” that was taking place during a song that normally brings about moshing and rioting was distracting, but no fault of the band.

Before listening to their covers, I also used MySpace to listen to their original work. ‘Insane’ has weak lyrics and is too guitar heavy. ‘Another Day’ is better lyrically, but has poor vocals. ‘The Other Side’ is (personally) just unpleasant to continue listening.

The Good: Red Asphalt’s best asset is their drummer, Kevin Hess. He keeps excellent time, is enthusiastic and not overly showy.

The Bad: The venue is a poor choice. It’s way too small for the band’s big sound and would be more suited to a space large enough for 100 or more.

Next week: CD reviews!