Day-To-Day Coverage on the ANTI*POP Music Festival in Downtown Orlando-Day 1
Chapter One: 11/13/08 BACKBOOTH - Thursday
Performers: Attack! Attack!, Confide, Showbread, A Static Lullaby and Maylene And the Sons of Disaster…
The day started with me waking up before noon (which is a really big deal, especially if you know me). So I decided to get some work done. I always wanted to do a story on the Social, which in my opinion is the most important music venue in the Orlando area. Well because of the death that I had in my family in recent weeks, I was a little backed up in work and somewhat out of sorts. So I called the Social and tried to land an interview with them. They informed me that there was a music festival (ANTI*POP music festival ‘08) going on the weekend of the 13th-16th and for me to contact them on Monday afterwards. A light bulb went off in my head. What a perfect way for me to experience the Orlando music scene, by coming to the festival, a festival in which eight venues housed national and regional acts throughout the whole city. The venues included, AKA Lounge, BACKBOOTH, CLUB FIRESTONE, The Gibson Showroom, The Plaza Theater, The Social, The Social Pavilion and Tanquerays.
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Confide's Music Consists of Powerful Percussion and Ear Ripping Riffs!!!
So I went to 54 North Orange Avenue (the Social) to try and talk to them. I finally got into contact with Asa Palmer (Production Manager for the festival) and Laurin Fedora (Festival Guide Editor) and explained my business in being there. At first, they were somewhat skeptical to give me a press pass for the events. Understandably, I did somewhat bum rush them and come on the day of the fest. But through the kindness of their heart and their trust in my true intentions of being there, they gave me a pass to cover the whole festival. And for that I am thankful.
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Maylene and the Sons of Disaster: True Southern Rock with a Metal Twist...
So I finally got the pass and started my way down to the BACKBOOTH concert venue a couple of blocks south of the Social. The Bands playing that night were Attack! Attack!, Confide, Showbread, A Static Lullaby, and the headliners Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. I walked into the venue, walls black with stickers plastered onto the barrage from previous Bands that have played there. The Staff were amazingly nice. One of the security guards, Jared, graciously let me into a cut off area so I could get a better look at the crowd. I asked him what he thought about BACKBOOTH. He told me, “It’s the best job I have ever had!”
So as I sat on a guitar case taking notes of the concert, I started to notice the demeanor of the crowd. Orlando is known world wide as the “Mickey Mouse” capital of the globe. But that’s them; we Orlandonians (not sure if that is the correct term, but you know…) know Orlando to be something much…much more. Take for instance the ANTI*POP music festival ‘08 itself. Throughout seven principle blocks of downtown Orlando, there were venues that held night-long concerts in almost every genre except pop.
This night at the BACKBOOTH venue was a harder metal sounding night. I arrived just in time to see Confide take the stage, a Christian Alternative rock band from L.A. As strong drum signatures radiated through the capacity crowd in the Orlando venue, the multitude gradually anticipated a strong crescendo. Then it dropped…sturdy and well built lyrics about their personal faith blasted through the massive speakers of BACKBOOTH. The crowd erupted in a synchronized and by no means graceful dance. Time signatures of Arin (sorry didn’t catch his last name), the drummer for Confide, rumbled through a deep and steady bass line provided by Billy the bassist. As Jeff and Aaron destroyed the fret board of their guitars by shredding harmonious chords and detailed soloing, Ross sang lyrics dedicated to human truth.
The audience ate them up. After their set, I went through the crowd of tattoos, piercings, beer, cigarettes, and honest music lovers and asked questions of their opinion of Confide. A ticket holder named Sarah told me that “everything was perfect… and they’re so awesome!” This wasn’t the only reaction that was like this. Countless others confessed opinions similar to Sarah.
As the crowds subsided to the bar area to wait for the next band, I continued to make my way around the venue to interview the local people. I went up stairs to a sitting area and started to ask the kids their opinion of the Orlando music scene. I met this interesting character named Mark. He noticed my annoying presence and my behavior of asking questions of complete strangers. So he came up to me and said, “Let me ask you, a question. What do you think about the state of the Orlando music scene?” I said in the least complicated way I could, “We have so many different cultures in Orlando…people from Miami, New York, California and the Midwest. It’s time we shed our reputations of the boy-band era and start showcasing our original talent.” He approved and kindly said, “That’s the best answer that could have been said, and I agree!”
Then the lights went dim. A band out of Guyton, GA named Showbread came onto the stage dressed in doctors’ coats and surgical masks. Two nurses on synths with clear masks only known as the “Cancer Bots” established a Saw Algorithm as the band started with a trebly riff that then exploded into a lyrical prose that was somewhat angry but acute. As the insane rhythms and melodies that resembled the industrial explosion of the 90’s radiated through BACKBOOTH, the crowd sympathized and empathized with the bands message. After the show, I asked Showbread to describe their sound. They told me that they don’t like to be categorized, so they always explain their music as “Roll, Rock.” Fair enough, I thought.
Again, the crowd subsided into their own conversations and choices of drink (which usually was a Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer {who also sponsored the fest}) to await the headliners, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. Now, I’ve been to a multitude of concerts in my day. I have been around some of the best drummers in the world in various recording studios up and down the eastern sea board. But I have never encountered a louder drummer than Mr. Matt Clark. His focused use of the toms destroyed eardrums like a blast from a D-20 howitzer gun used by Soviets in WWII. As the bass frequency pulse rippled through my chest, for a second I thought that my heart stopped. But Clark’s drum techniques weren’t the only thing to thrash your body to during Maylene’s set. Kelly Scott Nunn and Chad Huff (the two guitarists for Maylene) tapped into the soul of the electric guitar like a lightning bolt sucking energy out of the Earth’s atmosphere. When Roman Havaland danced across his bass guitar’s fret board, all 44 Hz of the low E-string vibrated my skull to the point of vertigo. Then on top of that, Dallas Taylor bawled southern styled lyrics close to my own heart’s memories to impact the crowd’s growing hyper-activity.
Sadly, but inevitably, the show ended. The crowds drank the last sips of their PBR’s and headed for the door. I ran into Mark again as he was leaving. I asked him what he thought on the show. He said, “It was what I wanted but nothing I expected!” A girl named Teresa Johnson came up to me and said, “S*** was f***ing awesome!” Another girl who only gave me her alias, Katie Bird, noted some of the fashion styles of the bands, “That dude could sing, and he had an intense rat tail!” referring to lead singer Joe Brown from the band A Static Lullaby that played earlier that night. Kaycee, a native from Orlando said, “Awesome…hell yeah!”
So as I walked back to my car to wrap up the night and prepare for day two of the fest. I realized that festivals like the ANTI*POP music festival not only brings business into the city for a dying economy, but it also unites the artistic community that is sometimes overlooked by the pop clubs that are prevalent in Orlando. So do yourselves a favor; click onto all of the links on this page directing you to the bands in this festival and check them out. Post a comment on this page with your opinion; and as always, this is just my opinion; make up your own mind, peace…
Be sure to read Chapter Two which reviews day two of the fest…
Also leave a comment on the bands page and tell them that the Orlando Music Examiner sent you, PEACE!!!
Article Guide: Main Article Guide of Whole Anti*Pop Music Fest
Your At The Article of the First Day of Fest!
Second Day of Anti*Pop Music Festival- The AKA Lounge Show!
Third Day of Anti*Pop Music Festival- The Elms, Rachel Goodrich and Ben Prestage!
Fourth Day of Anti*Pop Music Festival- The Felice Brothers and Matt Butcher Show!
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Day-To-Day Coverage on the ANTI*POP Music Festival in Downtown Orlando-Day 1
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