Who is Sparta? or Granada 2007-06-10

[huck]

It is funny what you hear people talking about at a gig. I had found the bus already

and was having a smoke and shooting the marquee as i heard a group walk past and mention that: "Who is Sparta?" At least i wasnt alone.


the granada is a dingy old theater that has seen better times. The crowd was ok, but not packed,


The first two acts, Meese and Lovedrug were OK, but the house sound was highly compressed, great if you like to feel a breeze from the kick and floor tom, but it also tends to wash the rest of the sound to a tinny projection that almost seems a sidenote to the overpowering drums. The soundman for Straylight managed to lighten it up a lot, but by their last song (big shot/ Hands in the sky) even he had fallen prey to the heavy compression and the attempts by the band to manipulate the volume level fell flat against the wall of constant volume sub-bass. By then even John yelling into the mic couldnt get him any depth to his voice or change the overall volume at all.

more pictures













I had gone to see Straylight, they were done by about 10pm. I didnt look forward to a kick drum assault from sparta, so i just headed home after that, i had some old cream and zztop bootlegs in the car that i did want to listen to (police and petty on the way there). I didnt regret seeing Straylight again, that was worth the 6 hours on the road, I do enjoy their music and the constatly busy stage show they provide. It was clear they were the pro's at this venue.

I didnt see any confetti tho.

[carkey]

ooo! i do like the sign that says the venue's name. did it light up at night? thats too bad about the sound quality at the venue. i know exactally what you mean though, ive seen some bands play before and its just the drums are so loud (or sometimes bass too) that you can feel it but it makes it so that you can barely hear anything else

6 hours? bravo. did you go alone? that would be a long drive to go alone. where are you from that they weren't playing closer?

sparta has a pretty nice size following i thought, although i cant say that ive ever really listened to them, ive given their songs a chance but i guess it just wasnt for me. maybe their live show will be really good, ive never seen them live before

i still have over a week before i get to see this tour

-carla

[huck]

Most of the time i saw the sign it was still daylight, and i dont remember looking back as i left. So i dont know about lights up by the GRANADA part. Ive heard worse sound, I stayed for who i went to see, but to me that heavy compression is the "peavy" sound and i hate peavy gear for that reason, but the heavy/hard bands love it, I just dont put straylight into that genre, i like finesse and style, qualities straylight does have.

Im just east of Columbia Mo, only 3 hours each way. Ive been known to do 18 hours straight so this was a short daytrip. Just me, my cd player, and some crate 10inchers in the back seat, an old nasty habit, but a sweet rich sound without having to push it. I had done a two hour round trip to see a local band the night before for comparison, took the backroads then but backroads to lawrence would have me still on the trip, so i boogied I70 for that, was home and back at work just after 1am.

I didnt mean to knock sparta, i checked them out on the web, and to get where they are at they have to be good. I went to see straylight, got there early 'nuf to see the openers even as "requested", got another shirt and ep even. Just didnt think sparta was going to thrill me much that night, and im not kidding, there was a kick-breeze by the back door for parts of lovedrug. I confirmed i liked straylight for who they were, not just because they worked with kevin and pablo, i went to see them this time, not their openers, and am glad i did.

Two funny things i forgot, it was the drummer for lovedrugs birthday, i yelled "sweettart shots" but i dont think anyone got it. and michelle had mic problems again, just like at the bottleneck in nov, but they were fixed much faster this time, bairly knocking them off stride at all. I liked the bottleneck better overall, friendlier feeling, more "homey" even though it may have been the same promoter (who may also run the grand emporium in KC too)

[huck]

More Goodies from a geek bare-ing gifs (ok, ok ... jpgs)

New Tshirt
(left arm)


(back)


(front)

(is this new? just the circle maybe?, i like it)

on to the travel-log

Rolling hills


I crossed a state line, no minors involved ...


KC Skyline


More Hills


Special added bounus: dirty windshield


Lots of straight line


Big farms


Lawrence Exit


Nice town, south on Mass.





Homeward bound playing long shutter games


and as a just reward for getting this far, if you wish to see all 199 stills(49meg) i took of the the SR gig, mostly dark and/or fuzzy tho, look here: www.megaupload.com/?d=QQ5Y2U7U

Edit:added url

[[::april / 03::]]

huck said:

I didnt see any confetti tho.

ok.

hold up, wait, what?



don't just espect (haha, oh Gosh. it's my new fave word to spell wrong)

anyway, don't just espect these things to happen know what i'm sayin [!??!?1]

these things aren't built into dehh airrrr. they don't just APPEAR.
if you think it, you best bring it.

cuz not everyone else is reading this thinkin' it. now that may not make sense, but next time you go...
go and reinvent prom night party on a train/birthday dance floor extravaganza fun at your local SR show...


Make it happen.
Confetti.
Throw.
[at]
SR.
Show.

M.C.T.[a.]S.S., oh-so basically.


and yadda yadda blah blah blah. *flails hands in air*

[esedler8785]

yeah what she said...confetti isnt done by the band..you gotta make it happen...


i know itll be seen for those goin to irving plaza (woo) or the philly show..

[huck]

I wasnt "espect-ing" anything. I reported i saw none, I didnt blame anyone. I didnt espect the band to provide it either. Seeing some would had led me to think another member was there, and not seeing any led me to think i may have been the only member there.

Go for it, Have fun, i suspect it will end up meaning more to the band than the rest of the crowd, but thats even better isnt it?

[carkey]

wow thats crazy you drive that far a lot for shows

i wouldnt be able to do that, i get nervous driving far to places i dont know...more so at night


oh and as for that circle... its what the front of the cd looks like and its inside the artwork too

-carla

[konstantine]

is the sign for the granada different? i don't remember it looking like that the one other time i was there.

for the record i hate the granada and i try to stay away from it. however every time i die is coming to lawrence in august so i will be there.