Brad Benson is out of Cary and did an acoustic set with another guitar player whose name I didn’t catch. He was supposed to have somebody on the Congo drum (I think, I wasn’t really paying attention while they were getting ready) but there was a busted head or something so they played without. I thought it was really outstanding. The thing about acoustic sets is that you can’t cover up bad playing or fuck-ups like you can with an electric.

Next up was Barbarella out of Chapel Hill. I’m not sure how to describe them. Kind of a bluesy rock vibe with healthy doses of Lenny Kravitz. Hugh Swaso’s guitar playing was masterful.

Then Eulogy took the stage.  Eulogy is a Tool tribute band. I have mixed feelings about tribute bands. One the one hand I think musicians should be oriented toward creating music or at least “re-imagining” (I hate that term but it fits). On the other hand, I’ll never get to see Tool in the Lincon Theatre. That said I thought Eulogy did a really excellent job. I would have liked for them to have played more off of Lateralus but that’s just because it’s my favorite album.

Last up was Guerilla Radio, a Rage Against the Machine tribute band.  The mosh pit went nuts while these guys were on stage. Several times during their set the lead singer had to tell people to chill. There were a couple of bleeding head cuts that I saw and the bouncers had to take one (really big) guy (who didn’t leave without a fight) down. It took a couple of them to beat the crap out of him bad enough to get him to walk out on his own. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as active as the pit during the Fuel show at Lake Boone Country Club but there weren’t as many people there last night. It’s hard for me to say who was better (because everything’s got to be a competition, right?). Tool is probably my favorite band and I really have to be in the mood to listen to RATM so I’ll just call it a toss-up.

Hard to argue with 4 bands over the course of 4 hours for $10. Oh, and, Lincoln’s beer price went up $0.25 for domestics to $3.25 since last time I was there. My only bitch about the night was that it seemed to take extra long for the tear down/set up between sets.  My regret is that I couldn’t make my way over to the really cute scene girl on the left side of the stage. She had the most fetch septum and would have been perfect with a couple of cheek piercings  a layer of black hair and maybe a raccoon tail. But anytime you can come home with your ears ringing and your music bits all smiling and happy for $10,  you’ve got to call it a win.

Anyway, I was looking forward to seeing them… especially since I would get a chance to see BOB again (from the Framing Hanley show). Good to know that local music is being supported though.

I know this is stupid but what bothered me most was the two guys standing in front of me. I’m sure one of the two of them wears a short sleeved oxford with his employer’s name embroidered above the pocket for his day job. If I had to guess I’d say one was a salesman at Staples and the other was an assistant manager a Burger King. Niether could be cool if you fucking shipped them to McMurdo Station.  They both stood there with their hands in their pockets except for the occasional odd gesture. Then they’d return to looking uncool. Whatever. LOL.

Two things though. The lead singer is a perfect example of what I was just talking about. There was nothing about him that would keep him from having a “normal” job but he looked like a rocker. The other thing was he constantly mentioned the band’s name– Which is good. I can’t tell you the number if times lately I’ve seen a band & didn’t have any idea who they were because none of the bands on the bill said their name. Pimp your shit; it’s ok, really.

Now I have a complaint that doesn’t apply just to OCA but several of the bands I’ve seen lately. Would it be too much trouble to look a little like rockers instead of like you just left your java programing job at IBM?

And why is it that vocalist donbt seem to have any idea what to do with their hands anymore?

As is usual at shows like this at Lincoln Theatre, the opening acts were schizophrenic. The 1st band was Sky <something> Culture (Thanks, Lars)  from Rocky Mount. They were good but were a straight up Alternative band. The second band was Teradactal from Wilmington, NC. They were interesting…. an experimental electronica band that did kind of house dance music but stuff that didn’t last 12 hours.

One of the coolest things that happened during the night was during the set up for Hollywood Undead. I was back by the mixing board just waiting for them to come on when I turned around and realized that Charlie Scene, J-dog & Johnny 3 Tears were standing behind me. If Charlie hadn’t been talking to somebody I would have gone “OMG is that Charlie Scene?”

Cool time was had by all.