Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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//eas/y itourfc act* sto£(frow Rooito by Jonathan Dunagin Gamecock Critic Whoever said that Columbia’s music scene is dead was seriously mistaken. In the first great heavy music show to invade Columbia this year, Seven, Mass Connection and Throttlerod took the stage Thursday night at the Elbow Room Music Hall in a tremendous display of musical and performance abilities. In a the matic show that will not easily be foigotten, the three bands, which are among Columbia’s heavi est acts, shook the Elbow Room with song after crushing song, and left the audience’s ears ringing with satisfaction. With the Ultimate Fighting Championship play ing on opposite stage televisions, Seven entered the “octagon” dressed for a Thai kickboxing per formance that set the evening’s pace and started the show up right. With sound resembling the Deftones, Seven follows the path of other popular bands that fall in the altemative-metal genre. Songs like “Middle Finger,” “Nose Job” and “Asthma,” which clearly display the band’s abili ty to balance explosive hard rock with melodic verses and screaming anthems, were the highlights of the performance. But this only supplied a taste of what was to come and never could’ve prepared the audience for what they were about to re ceive. The next band to take the stage was Mass Con nection, and only three words can properly de scribe their performance: Oh my God! Imagine a pissed-off and demented version of Body Count and you’d have Mass Connection. In the famous words of Mr. T, “I pity the fool” who didn’t catch this performance. After a three-month hiatus, Mass Connec tion was back in full force and clearly stole the show with a performance that had been long an ticipated and that the entire night was based around. With a Bruce Lee movie playing and Chinese ban ners in the background, the band came out dressed in gis, their appearance resembling a scene out of Berry Gordy’s “The Last Dragon,” a Harlem-based martial arts movie. Notable parts of the show included songs like “Threshold,” “ 10 X 25” and “Operation 20,” which stresses the evilness of child abuse. But the main attraction of the evening was Mass Connection’s onstage energy and the performance of their new drummer, Jason Summers of the band Balance of rower. I mean, simply put, that guy was incredible. He elevated Mass Connection’s music to an en tirely new level. Mass Connection needs to make sure that they hang on to this guy. And nothing against their old drummer, but this guy is one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen. He is definite ly the best drummer I’ve seen in Columbia, which includes shows by national acts Stuck Mojo and Corrosion of Conformity. But the most striking and incredible part of this performance was the short amount of time he had been practicing with the band. Mass Connec tion’s lead vocalist, Lawrence Burwell, joked that Summers had learned a song a day for this perfor mance. For most bands, it takes months, even years, to achieve this level of chemistry and tightness, but Summers and Mass Connection had done it in less than a week. That, in turn, made it all the more amazing to see them perform. For those of you who’ve seen them before but wrote them off, you need to give them a second chance. You’ll be astonished. And even for those of you who don’t like heavy music, you need to come out just to see the drummer per form. It’lLgive you a new respect for the genre. So mark my words: Now, this band is going places. The only tiling they’re lacking is for a record label agent to catch their show, and when one does, they’ll be gone. They are the next great thing in heavy music just waiting to happen. Finally, as if all this were not enough, Throt tlerod took the stage. Throttlerod chose to replace the martial arts videos and Chinese banners with static snow and pure eneigy. Although the crowd had dwindled since Mass Connection’s perfor mance, Throttlerod’s show was no less worthy or lacking. With a sound clearly influenced by bands like Kyuss and Clutch, Throttlerod has quickly caused itself to stand out front the crowd and made a name for itself. This has resulted in numerous opportu nities, both in and out of town, for performances with more established acts, including Corrosion of Conformity in December at the Elbow Room. Songs like “American Guadalupe” and “The Platter” were performed, which can be found on their EP By The Horns, available at Manifest. Additional standout songs include the bass-laden performance “Blue T-top” and the foot-stomping, head-banging “Swaller.” And with the prospect of recording a full-length CD in the spring, and the possibility of an up coming country wide tour beginning with an April performance in Ohio, Throttlerod has its sights set high for the future. Finally, even though the eneigy and excite ment of the show were carried on throughout the evening, there were a few disappointments. Even though the bands had purposely performed with a low admission price of $3, one downfall that quickly made itself present was the small audience. Although the crowd was at its peak during Mass Connection’s performance, and was agood turnout for a local show, bands this good deserve much more attention than Columbia tends to pay them. These three bands are on the rise, and this might be the last time you’re able to see this quality of a show on the same ticketand be able to afford it. So it’s disappointing that everyone didn’t take advan tage of it. Another disap pointment during the show was the fault iness of the equip ment, although it was more apparent to the bands than to the audience. This not only included your normal broken strings, but also in cluded the Elbow Room’s faulty mon itors and fading mi crophones that caused several de lays. But overall, the only real disap pointment was that Mass Connection didn’t play longer than they did. Be cause of the recent addition of their drummer, which forced them to cancel a show opening for Primus earlier this month, and the little time they’ve had to practice, the band was only able to perform about six songs. The crowd would have preferred that they played all night. And although Mass Connection has no future performance dates confirmed as of Thursday’s show, they proved that they are deserving. So remember to keep your eyes open, because if you missed this show, you certainly don’t want to miss the next one. For those of you who can’t wait until then, Mass Connection has a full-length CD, Threshold available at Manifest. However, with their new drummer, that recording no longer does them justice. So, likeThrottlerod, Mass Connection plans on entering the studio and recording during the next couple of months. As tor Seven, they ventured into the studio Saturday, so you should expect to sec something from them soon. Also, you can catch them Wednes day at the New Brookland Tavern, opening up for Nashville Pussy and Syrup USA. In addition, Throt tlerod will be performing there with Sheldon and Lovefist on March 17, and with Alabama Thun derpussy on March 23. With the quality of shows these three bands are offering, and the performances that they are giving, it’s obvious that they are skilled. So pre pare to be amazed and to hear some of the best new heavy music around as you witness the resuigence of Columbia’s music scene. Call either New Brookland Tavern at 791-4413 or the Elbow Room at 771-1502 for more infor mation on all of these and other upcoming heavy music shows. Jonathan Dunagin The Gamecock Mass Connection lead singer Lawrence Burwell leaps above the Elbow Room stage Thursday when Columbia was host to acts Seven, Mass Connection and Throttierod. Grand Opening Tonight! 1710 Main Street Across from Courthouse Must be 21 to Enter If you are under Ihe age of 21, it is against the law to buy alcoholic beverages. All ABC regulations enforced.