Independence Day 2014: Part II- Casket Of Cassandra @ Red 7- Austin, TX

“If it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!”~ Kurt Cobain

Ever run around in the middle of the night in a city of just over million people in the downtown area just to catch a band play a show?

I rolled my happy butt from the Dirty Dog Bar to a venue that I had never been before. A venue which apparently had two stages. Inside and outside.

Now I have seen that before with Acadia Bar & Grill in Houston, Texas. As well as Red Eyed Fly which also has indoor & outdoor. That wasn’t new. But Red 7 was new.

But I had left Downfall 2012 to go see CASKET OF CASSANDRA play once more before they hit the road this summer as they go up and down the Midwest.

It was dark. HOLY CRAP was it dark!!!!!!!!! I am totally surprised that any of my photographs actually came out. Or actually happy that the flash on the camera is so damned bright that its blinding!!

However, CASKET OF CASSANDRA was playing pretty late in the evening. I was amused and surprised to see how many people actually outside walking in the streets.

Nonetheless the band was going to be playing. And I was there in plenty of time. 

There was someone there, I think by the name of Alex. He sure did like getting his photograph taken. I am not sure just how drunk he was. But he was having a good time and for once I met a person who had been drinking but was not causing problems or being a danger to anyone. It was refreshing to find that.

Right away, I was thrilled to the core when I heard them open with “Solitaria” ohhhhhhh how I was excited!!!

My own biased opinion is that with each and every show that I see them play, they get better. They sound better. Everything about their set is better.

At least better from the last time that I saw them play. I’m going to have to go back and count how many times I have seen them play. I know I’ve missed a few, especially their CD release party.. and that sucked for me but there wasn’t much I could have done. But I’ve seen them a lot. I guess it helps that they are “a local band.”

With their stage presence, Amanda Maddera came off of the stage and into the crowd and wandered around the bar. She’s done this many times (if not every time) before. And I got one hell of a photograph of her headbanging while doing her thing as she was off of the main stage at Red 7.

To be honest with you all, I have never seen that before. Where a lead singer comes off of the stage and hangs out in the crowd for a moment and then perches themselves somewhere for the duration of the song and then get back on stage by the ending notes.

Its fun. I could see it being a security problem if there were tens of thousands of people, but the band wasn’t performing in front of that many.

I can see how each and every one of the members are improving in their skill and craft. It is pretty awesome to watch this band grow and develop into a face melting, power gripping metal band. I really hope that they get all the success that they are striving for. It really is a unique experience to watch this band play live. Plus, when their new album comes out and I’m too scared to listen to it? You know there’s something going on.

When I told that to guitarist Riles Olacsi, he grinned the most evil of looks… knowing that all the evil and scary was the point.

So later this summer, see if they are coming into your area. If so, I definitely recommend you at least check it out. That’s all I am suggesting.

Independence Day 2014: Part I – Downfall 2012 @ Dirty Dog Bar

“The holidays stress people out so much. I suggest you keep it simple and try to have as much fun as you can.”~ Giada De Laurentiis

This could be put into three parts, but the first part is actually one entire blog post by itself, so we’ll only deal with two parts, which are actually the better parts, or the more positive parts.

Independence Day in the United States of America. The great holiday of The Fourth of July. And lucky to the American citizens, it landed on a Firday which gave everyone in the work force an extended weekend.

One would think everyone would be refreshed from such a long holiday. That remains to be seen.

But allow me to come back to business and give you the scoop on this year’s holiday activities.

Downfall 2012 came to town. Driving up from the Houston area. I remembered them from last May when they were here last, they played with Filter but also RESISTING VEGAS. And that’s where I met them.

Needless to say that I was excited. But this was going to go down on the Fourth of July.

Usually, I am sitting at home in the dark and hoping that no stray bullets that were fired by some idiot come crashing through my windows or some stray firework that exploded come down and start a fire. Simply put: Fireworks are illegal here. But it doesn’t stop these idiots here in the hood.

So this gave me another option to spend the holiday. With music and entertainment.

It was a little different from what I was used to because Downfall 2012 would be the one and only band playing. So they had the entire place to themselves.

I could not imagine the time that they were going to have to fill.

I asked the lead singer, Daniel Gil, ahead of time what was what. And he basically said that they would play until they didn’t want them to play any more. 

It was very different to be traveling on a bus on a holiday, without really knowing what to expect or curious about how many people would be out or riding the bus or whatever there may be.

Probably the funniest thing that happened that day was that I had two single stemmed roses (one red, one yellow) in my back pack and when I crossed the street to get to the city bus stop… I lost them in the middle of the street. These flowers were demolished and destroyed. And after a police cruiser ran them both over, there was nothing left.

I have no idea who I would have given them to in the first place and that is probably why I didn’t really care about trying to run into the middle of the street to save them. But I did lose $8 on them.

OOPS!!

The bus ride seemed to take very little time to get downtown. And of course that works on the plus side. But there was a showdown going on between me and the sun. A race against time. Would I reach my destination before the sun would set or would I be traveling around on the sidewalks of downtown in the dark?? 

I won that race by a narrow margin. And Downfall 2012 was already there and setting up. They got started early, but that was just fine by me.

I got some “happy fun time” photographs of the band before they hit the stage and then it was smooth sailing with great entertainment from there on.

In my own opinion, Downfall 2012 is far better than what I remembered them to be last May. Obviously, there was something from within that had me go to their show on the Fourth of July and as I sat there listening to their music and their lyrics, I would be reminded of that.

Downfall 2012 is clean cut as far as musical tastes are concerned. And what I mean is that you either love Downfall 2012 and their music OR you don’t.

Simple as that.

I on the other hand was happy and content with the decision to make it down to the Dirty Dog Bar for their show. However the joy would be short lived as there was something else going on one block north and one block east from where I was over on 7th Street. It would be Part II.

I was hoping to catch them playing the cover of “Baby Got Back” but I left too soon for that, even thought I knew it was on their set list for the night.

Downfall 2012 had made the best of their weekend by traveling up here from Houston and staying at a camp site and had all kinds of activities of leisure planned ahead of them. I guess if you’re going to be playing on the Fourth of July weekend and have to drive three or more hours to get there, knowing that you have to drive that much time back to get home, that you might as well make a trip out of it. I hope they had fun.

I personally hope that they come back again soon. For whatever reason, I kept thinking that it had been many many many months since the first time that I saw them. But it was only since last May. Weird how time does that to your brain.

These guys are fun. I’d love to hang out with them just once because I think that they would be a blast.