Concert Review-65daysofstatic at Chain Reaction 6-02-08

Monday night....what can I say, it was AMAZING. I can't say that all of it was though....

The night took place at the very generic post-hardcore/hardcore all ages venue in Anaheim, CA called Chain Reaction. I haven't been to that place in like 2 years...when I listened to not so good music. Anyway, I thought it was a strange venue for 65daysofstatic to play....since there are NEVER any post-rock or instrumental bands that play there.

The first two bands were the epitome of the type of bands play at Chain Reaction, pure shit. The first band, Atikan, were just your bland post-hardcore band that sound JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! It's like they broke off the Vans Warped Tour tree and landed in a pile of dung. There's already like 50 bands that sound like you, shitty song structures, bad singing, a weak breakdown here and there. The sing said that Chain Reaction was a pretty far place to drive to and felt like they have been driving for 50 hours. Well next time, just drive into a large body of water and drown.

The next band was this trying-to-be-experimental band Set to Sea. There lyrics were, as my friend Ray described it, three word chants. The vocalist was very whiney. VERY whiney. It was just disgusting. I will sum them up in multiple three word phrases, like their songs. Just terrible music. Sucked really bad. Tried too hard. Horrible horrible lyrics. No one cares.

And another thing that pissed me off about both bands. THEY DID NOT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE 65DAYSOFSTATIC. THE VERY BAND THEY DID NOT DESERVE TO OPEN FOR. How ignorant can a band be to not even give a shout out to the band that they are opening for? Do they have some kind of rock star attitude where it is all about them? The only time I will ever care about this band is if their van flips, for I will celebrate in happiness.

On to the headliner. 65daysofstatic is such a unique band blending perfectly together the genres of electronica and post-rock. They brought so much energy and very sincere with the small crowd. They played around 8-9 songs, mainly from their latest album "The Destruction of Small Ideas". The guitarists were great and the drummer was so good. He played along with the drum samples and played with it in time! Which is very hard to do. Very impressed by this band live. They even played a couple of dance-beat interludes between each song which got the crowd to move. One downside though is that there actually was a mosh pit during one of their songs. Only in a city filled with bros and scene kids would do such a thing. Some songs they played live were "Primer", "Radio Protector", "A Failsafe", and "Retreat! Retreat!". The last song they played, "These Things You Can't Unlearn" had a very notable highlight. As the song was ending, the drummer Rob just flipped his whole drumset and throwing all his cymbals to the floor. What passion! It was amazing! They were just flawless live and Chain Reaction should have been honored to host such a band.

I took video of six songs which I post later. I only have two pictures, their setlist they gave me and signed and a picture of their flipped drumset.

Next time this band rolls through town, I suggest you see them! This show was their headlining show and an off-date of their tour. They are currently opening for The Cure.



Check out the videos here:
"When We Were Younger & Better"

"These Things You Can't Unlearn"

"Radio Protector"

"Primer"

"A Failsafe"