Over the course of our time together as band, there are a few shows we've played that stand out in our memories. Our first show ever at Sigma Phi with the late Wesley Willis, and our shows at the Troubadour, Gilman St, and Java Jazz, just to name a few, will always remind us of great times. We're excited to say that this show at the Local may just be another one of those shows. We've been looking forward to this ever since it was booked, and we weren't disappointed. We love playing the Local no matter what, but it's unlikely (actually impossible) that these bands will all play together on the same show ever again. If you were at the show, you probably know what we're talking about.
Kicking off this 6-band show was the local band After the Fire. We weren't able to get any pictures of them because we were just arriving and they played a remarkably short set, but we enjoyed what we did hear, and their set was very solid, if not lenghty. The next band, shown in the picture above, is the Roosevelts, on tour from Nashville. They had a great sound, and we enjoyed talking to them about playing at the Muse, probably Nashville's greatest independant music venue.
We were up third. We had built up a lot of excitement for ourselves in anticipation of this evening, and we let all of the excitement out in the space of 30 minutes. Check out the picture above. Even though it's obviously only one shot, I think you can see Alex in about three different positions with three different facial expressions. That's motion. Our fans in Flint came out to see us, as did some friends of ours from Lansing, Jackson, and Kalamazoo. Thanks to you all for making this an exciting show for us!
Following us was The Chase Theory, on tour from Florida. Apparently, these guys are really good friends with Kid Brother Collective (who played later in the evening) and both bands have toured together. This makes perfect sense because The Chase Theory has a very similar style to Kid Brother. That's not to say they were clones of each other, though, and everyone seemed to dig Chase Theory's set. Very solid, melodic rock.
THIS band is one of the main reasons this night was so special for us. If you've never heard Kid Brother Collective before, you are seriously missing out. They have been around for about six years and are one of the best bands ever to come out of Michigan. Get their CD "Highway Miles." You won't be disappointed. Unfortunately, good things must come to an end (or so they say) and Kid Brother's time has come. They announced that they would be disbanding at the end of 2003, and are playing a few last shows at the Local for old time's sake. We're honored to play with them at one of these last shows. Their set, which included all the old classics, was amazing. There's still time to check them out a couple more times, once in November, once in December. Don't miss out.
Man. Too many good bands. As if Kid Brother wasn't enough, The Chiodos Bros. took to the stage with a bang to close out one of the best shows we've ever been a part of. These guys are hopefully going to be around for a while, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check out one of their shows as soon as possible. Few can rival their stage energy, and when you see a whole room of people screaming along to the lyrics and jumping every which way, you know they're doing something right. We'll be playing with them again soon, and we can't wait.
We at Once a Hero are so artisically creative (hold the laughs) that sometimes we're inspired to create great things, like this "house of cards" made up with Elkion samplers. We carry these samplers with us at our shows. They're free and feature several Michigan bands on a few different labels, so pick one up. Adam proudly shows off his work while [Stand-up] John, from the Stand-up Jack! zine looks on. Well, we will miss Kid Brother Collective dearly, but will always have the memory of this show. See you soon, everyone!
-Once a Hero
