The Fuse

Saw this west coast hard-core band at the Empty Bottle. The place was empty because International Pop Overthrow is in town. The band's CD is very good and the live show even better. Makes me want to revisit the CD. But, the standout of the night was the drummer. He sat so high above the kit that you could see him from knees--up. The cymbols were so high up that he could just reach them -- or when needed--stand up and bash the fuck out of them. I assumed he was either 7 feet tall with no legs--or 4 feet tall with gorilla arms. In fact, he was human. The band left the stage after a great set--and I cornered the drummer. The dude was completely modest, somewhat taken aback, and so happy that I was asking him about every thing he did behind the drum kit. It turns out that it is simply the way he bangs the drums. You don't have to love this band--although I'm getting close--to fully appreciate an extraordinary drummer. Front man tries hard--drummer steals the show! I couldn't take my eyes off him--even when the front man was writhing on the floor at my feet.
--Dem