Concert Review: Powerman 5000 7/9/05

I saw Powerman 5000 for the first time almost 2 years ago, they put on a great show co-headlining with Adema. Now they have returned as the sole headliner for the night. There was no question that I was going to be at this show. I arrived at the club around 8:15 and took my place in line. Doors opened at 8:30 and we filed in, some headed for the bar, some for the merch table, others headed straight for the pit in front of the stage. I started at the merch table, checking out the shirts, then over to the bar, and after getting a drink, I went down to the barrier by the pit, this gives you a good view of the stage and the insanity that goes on in front of the stage.

The first act took to the stage just before 9:00, the band was called Burning Cold. They seemed to have brought quite a following with him, shown by the numerous www.burningcold.com t-shirts throughout the crowd. It is just a shame, I don't think they really lived up to having this kind of fandom. They weren't completely awful, but they do need some work. Musically they didn't sound too bad, the twin guitars put together some good heavy chunky sounding riffs, there was some solid bass playing and drumming, but the vocals left something to be desired. It also didn't help that they were plagued by technical issues throughout their set. Feedback from the wireless mic, drums up way too high, and these random pop noises throughout the set. Back to the singer for a moment, he seemed to be too interested in looking "cool" than singing well, on top of that he voice was layered with so much reverb, you really didn't a feel for what he sounded like. The crowd seemed into them enough though. I've seen much worse, I was just a bit disappointed, considering to considerable following that was there.

Following that up was Section 18. I had never seen these guys before, but they put on a pretty good show, serving up a straight up rock/metal sound. It seemed that the technical glitches of the first act, as well as the mix issues. Here the crowd started to really warm up, a small pit formed. This pit even incited the singer to jump down and join them for a bit. These guys were good, definitely a step up from our opener. I would look into seeing these guys again.

The third, and final, opening act was Pillowface. This was the fourth time I had seen them, previously I saw them open for Joey Belladonna, Sponge, and Saliva. This was the first in nearly a year, and the time away has done wonders. I always thought they did a good job, but this was different. Their performance was electric. The crowd really got into it, the pit starting and stopping in bursts throughout the set. The music was hard rock, no nu-metal to be seen here. The performance was tight, heavy guitars, strong vocals. Their time together is paying if in some great stage presence, and the crowd is reacting to it. Enough of these openers, it is time to get to the reason why we came here.

Approximately 11:20 the curtains went up and we were face to face with Spider and crew, Powerman 5000 has arrived! They stood there frozen, ready to strike, then the familiar opening sounds of "Supernova Goes Pop" emanated from the speakers and the crowd erupts. It was a great way to start the show. They have so much energy, it just fed us, and we kept it going and fed it back to them. They tore through some of the better known tracks like "Transform," "Action," and "Nobody's Real." At one point a bass string broke, and lacking a prepped replacement, Spider had to do a little covering, and proceeded to give us a little rap, which was actually pretty good. Afterwords he threatened to do it again, which sort of signaled to me that we wouldn't be getting anything off of Mega!! Kung Fu Radio, which we didn't. These guys really put on a great show, once saying that we weren't as good as the crowd from the night before, which we quickly responded to. The guys were great, heavy riffs, great vocals, solid drumming, and some of the highest energy of any show I've been to this year. I only wish that we could have gotten some old stuff, maybe something from the recent compilation The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Vol. 1. They played a 45 minute set before leaving the stage, we were there shouting for more. After a couple of minutes, they returned and played a three song encore, closing with "When Worlds Collide." They then left the stage for good, leaving the worn out crowd to stumble off into the night.

I cannot wait to get another chance to see them again. If you get the chance to see them, don't miss it!

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