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Bear's Lair, Cal Campus November 14, 2002 Review by Jake Thomas When I saw this show listed on the indie list, I nearly shit myself. Well, not really, but you get the idea. I knew the guys in Fin Fang Foom back when I lived in North Carolina - used to hang out with them and skate and whatnot, but had lost touch since I moved out here. So even thoughI hate going out to the 'Easy Bay' for shows, I sucked it up just to throw some support to my old friends; getting to see From Monument to Masses (FMTM) ain't so bad either. The show was in what appeared to be the food court for Cal, or at least one of the food eateries. They had set a small stage up where I would imagine some of the seating is during the day. As you might imagine the acoustics in a place like this aren't the best for live music, especially the loud stuff, but it was tolerable - I've definitely heard much worse from similarly set up rooms. Fin Fang Foom started things off. They play what most people would call math rock, and I'm not going to argue with them. Maybe a nice mix of Jawbox, Wire, Fugazi, June of 44...not sounding like any of them (well, maybe a little like Jawbox), but incorporating their sounds into one. They have added a lot of keyboards to their sound since the last time I saw them a couple of years ago, and I think it made a nice addition to their sound. Keeps them from sounding like a lot of the other bands out there who are doing the same thing. As much as I hate to say it, because Eddie is such a nice guy, I've never been a fan of his vocals, and this show didn't do anything to change my opinion - but the music is instrumental more than half of the time and good enough so that it doesn't really matter. The real highlight was the drumming; even though Mike was good before, it seems he's gotten much better and was going nuts, even with his floor tom constantly tipping over and leaning against him. And most inportantly, they're all real good guys and hope the rest of their tour goes well. FMTM was next, after a brief instrument change out. They have a fair amount of gear to set up, so it took a few minutes. Once they got going they were great as usual. If you live here in the bay area and haven't checked them out, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. Great groove/dub infected math rock that reminds me a lot of a punker version of June of 44, with lots of political samples and the occasional vocal that is screamed without a microphone. That's always my favorite part of their shows. Everyone in the crowd seemed really into it, as I figure that's why most of them were there anyways. I still need to get FMTM's full length, I put it off this night cause I was broke and had to hurry my ass to the bart station before I got stuck sleeping on a park bench in Berkeley. An enjoyable show across the water, even if I hate the coming and going to get there. And make sure to go check out FMTM next time they play around town. ©2002 playinginfog.com |