Me and my friends drove down to Bethel United Methodist Church on Wednesday, April 16th to go see Velour100 and Starflyer 59. Both are on tour together and I had seen them both last August in Ft. Wayne, but they've both put out albums since then, so I was looking forward to seeing them again.
After this all right techno dj, Velour got up on stage to do their wall of sound. Tess Wiley, who is quite the seductress, was singing for them on their tour, and I really enjoy her vocals. They played a few songs off of "Fall Sounds" and "Songs From The Rainwater EP" and even a new song that Tess is singing for the new album. They weren't as good as last time I saw them, but Tess is just as good, if not better than their last singer, Amon. And I loved how the people running the show decided to play old movies in the background against the wall. I felt bad for Velour, however, because many times I think they thought I was laughing at them, when in reality I was laughing at the really bad Japanese monster movies. But Trey's a guitar genius, and their rhythm guitarist literally attacked his guitar with a fury that I haven't seen in a long time. The drummer played most of the show with his eyes closed.
After Velour's set of 8 songs or so, Starflyer set up. Gone was Eric Campuzano, their last bass player and filling in for him was Jeff Cloud, the president of Velvet Blue music and my winner for super nice guy of the year award. But more on that later. Starflyer mainly played songs off of their latest LP, "Americana", like 'The Voyager', 'You Think You're Radical', 'The Boulevard', 'Translator', etc. However, they did play a wicked awesome version of 'Hazel Would' which sounded so cool. Even better than the album version. Wayne was like a machine, just drumming away while the sweat came down his face. The breeze from the cymbals kept me cool for the evening. Jeff kept up well for being the new kid on the block and played good on bass. But the key to Starflyer, as any SF fan truly knows, is Jason's guitar playing. It was so good! He would just wail out on songs and then hit a note full of distortion and then jam back into the rhythm...all in the same song! It was so good. He's got a sweet guitar, too. A Gibson Les Paul. One of those 70s versions. Real nice. This was the third time I've seen Starflyer, and probably the best. They're just a good rock and roll band, period. Good hooks, good rhythms, cool lyrics and whispering vocals from Jason and Wayne. Overall, this was totally a good show.
And at the end, I even managed to pick up Starflyer's 'Plugged EP' for $10, when the regular price is $13, because that's how nice of a guy Jeff Cloud is. I also picked up a tape of Tess Wiley's stuff that she's doing on her own. And a Bloomsday EP on Velvet Blue Records, which is a label you really need to support. Overall, a good time was had by all. New friends were made, old acquaintances renewed and I even caught Trey from Velour brushing his teeth in the bathroom. Let me tell you, I think that's the first time I've had a conversation with a band member in a bathroom. But if either of these bands come to your area, go see them. They're definitely worth it.