Headliner: Depswa
When: Wednesday June 4, 2003
Where: Fat Cats, Modesto, CA
Ticket Price: Don't know as I was on the guest list.
Wednesday evening, June 4, 2003. I stayed at work until 7:00 PM and then headed out on the highway, first south on 101, then across the San Mateo Bridge, where I eventually connected with I-580 heading East toward Stockton/Tracy. My eventual destination was Modesto, which is smack dab in the middle of California's Central Valley.
For those not familiar with the region, it's beaucoup agriculture land, the home of farmers, truckers, and the occasional meth lab. It's unabashedly blue collar and a bit of a foreign land for a city dweller like myself.
I was headed into the heart of Cali to see Depswa, an up-and-coming band based in LA. And while an LA metal band playing in the relatively small, rural oasis of Modesto may seem rather out-of-place, it makes all the more sense once you realize that "MoTown" is where Depswa began their journey some years ago. Thus this show, which coincided with the release of their major label debut, Two Angels and a Dream was not only a homecoming of sorts, but also a record release party of sorts.
I arrived in downtown Modesto at roughly 9:30 and after getting my bearings on the club, which was called Fat Cats, I drove around until I stumbled upon a Walgreen's, wherein I purchased some earplugs (laugh if you wish, but not only do they save you from that annoying ringing in your ears post show, but they also cut out all the crappy noize and distortion that inevitable eek their way out of the monitors at a live show). Buying the earplugs was my first taste of Modesto and how it vastly differs from San Francisco, both in style and attitude. The woman at the cash register had the hugest hair I have seen since the hey days of Poison. Not only that, but she had obviously taken her make-up cues from Tammy Faye Baker. I was so taken aback by her appearance that it took all of my self-control not to stare at her in awestricken amazement. I was actually proud of the fact that I was able to get out of the store without so much as a laugh.
Fat Cat's marquee. Earplugs in hand, it was back downtown to Fat Cats, which was a pretty basic club: dance floor, bar, coat check area, balcony (which was closed) and a small stage. It was intimate, even though it was fairly packed. I walked in on Turn of the Screw, an LA-based metal quintet whose lead guitarist had the hugest muppet Afro I have ever seen (I don't know what it was with hairstyles in MoTown, but they were off the hook on this night). TotS's sound was a thick, turgid amalgamation of heavy rhythmic chugging, progressive instrumental shifts, and aggro blast. They were f@#king cool, in my book, and I'm usually not a huge fan of this type of lumbering metallic assault. I was bummed that they wrapped up only 3 songs after I got into the club. In fact, the show was moving along briskly, as I'd missed no less than 3 other bands--Trailer Park Pam, Agrokulcher, and Droid.
Shortly after TotS disembarked the stage Depswa's crew began setting up their gear, mic checking everything and sound checking the guitars, basses, and drums (actually Depswa's drummer did his own SC). The band's stage design was pretty simple: two "curtains" on either side of the stage, each emblazoned with the Depswa logo.
When local radio personality (the show was sponsored by Modesto rock station 96.7) Bueller took the stage and introduced "local heroes Depswa", the crowed started chanting. Their chants quickly faded, though, and several minutes of silence followed until the drummer came out and climbed behind his kit. The rest of the band followed while an almost operatic choral arrangement piped out over the monitors. "Thank every one of your for being here tonight," enthused frontman Jeremy Penick as he bent down and reached out into the crowd, touching everyone's hands who was up front by the stage. "When you have all your friends in one place it feels good," he yelled. "I'm feelin' that now."
Nick from TotS shakes his muppet 'fro. With that the band launched into "From The Inside," a song about finding "the one," you know that special significant other. Penick kept pounding his chest throughout the song, strategically placing his fist over his heart. With his black attire and bald pate he reminded me of a shorter Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil.
Since I hadn't gotten a copy of the album yet, I was rather surprised by the band's sound. I was expecting some heavy a$$ nu metal thunder and angst ridden, scream therapy vocals. Instead I was hit with interesting instrumental passages that manage to elevate Depswa above the typical nu metal fodder.
With "Voyeur" the band started out with a dark, atonal riff that soon slipped into a rolling rhythm while Penick crooned raggedly over the shifting arrangement. At the end of the song one of the guitarists tossed his pick into the audience while Jeremy announced, "Yesterday we had our album actually come out in the stores. A lot of the stuff on the album is about people here, about small town life. It's not about being from a big town, it's about having a big heart." This would be the first of many comments he made about the difference between small towns and big cities. It actually made me feel a little self conscious, since I was pretty sure I was the only out-of-towner in attendance [I later interviewed Jeremy and he said that wasn't his intention at all, he was just trying to talk about how small towns have distinct values and that more down home vibe about them].
The title track to the album had fans lip synching the lyrics as a quasi-Asian faux string arrangement whined underneath the band's chug. Penick kept pulling the mic away from his mouth, thus making his vocals seem shallow, distant, and thin, especially underneath the band's aural assault. It was like his energy was there, but the loudness wasn't.
Modesto mosh pit action. "This next song is the single," Penick chimed after the last notes of "Two Angels and a Dream." The band then ripped into "This Time" and without any further hesitation, a raging mosh pit ignited up near the front of the stage. I had actually been wondering why one hadn't formed prior to this, as the bulk of the audience was comprised of thick chested lads who were generally liquored up (i.e. they were prime suspects for most pit agitation). From there they slipped into "Needles," a song Penick explained "was written out of sorrow." To illustrate this he began with an aggro scream before slipping into his clean whisper/croon. While the song seemed a bit lacking in terms of musical thrust, the pit blew up and continued to expand out into the crowd, sucking up people left and right into its whirling maelstrom. The song, btw, ended just as it began: with a primal scream.
At this point in the show Penick's between song banter began to take an almost born again Christian/motivational speaker tone of positivity, which again played against my stereotypes of Los Angeles based nu metal bands. He introduced "The Path" as a song about "leaving the people you love whether you want to or not." The bassist then ripped into a cool, popping bass riff that played with the skirling guitar parts and easily made it the best song of the set.
At the end of the song, while the pit ebbed and flowed, Penick asked the crowd if we could all do one thing in unity. And that was to wish the guitarist a happy birthday. The band then led the entire club in a rather off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" before returning to the regularly scheduled set list, which next included the song "Silhouette." Saturated with cool echo wah guitar and a loping bass groove, the track prompted the couple in front of me to slow dance, which created a wonderful dichotomy to the raging mosh pit of earlier. This was easily the second tightest song of the set.
Jeremy Penick unleashing his emotional side. Penick then thanked all of the opening acts before announcing, "If you love something you'll let it go...that's why this song is called "Let It Go."" The vocals drifted way too much on this song and it sounded very much like classic '80s arena metal as if filtered through Eddie Money. Yet despite the time warp sensation it instilled, the mosh pit reared its ugly head yet again.
For the close of the set, Penick introduced "Not Responsible" by saying "I wouldn't say it's a negative song, it's a learning song." As the first chords rippled through Fat Cats, the pit again erupted. The song ebbed and flowed, sending out raging blasts of soniference, then calming down with piercing guitar shimmer, tying it for coolest sounding song of the set without reason.
And then it was over. Penick thanked everybody for "being with us on our journey" and managed to shout out every town from Sacramento on down to Bakersfield, thus further solidifying his hometown camaraderic vibe that he had maintained throughout the set.