Strike Anywhere / VCR

live in Richmond (2003)

Chris Moran

(Just to start, I have some really bomb ass pics of this show, but I can't find my cable to hook up the digicam to the PC, life's a bitch, I know. I also filmed it and it came out incredible. Anywho, if you want to see the pics, leave some info in the comments and as soon as I get ‘em online I'll let you know)

Finally, a good fucking show on a Friday night. After Isabel tore Richmond a new ass, I was apprehensive as to whether or not the show would go on. A good 2/3's of the city was still without power, most businesses were closed, but goddamn, the shit was still going down. (Apparently on Richmond's new favorite toy, the power generator)

I arrived as the first band was finishing up. I don't remember their name, and they were talented at playing their instruments, but came they off as another HWM rip-off. Yawn.

Moving on to PBR numero tres, I saw various keyboard stands were being setup. Hmmmm….

Turns out this was the setup for a band I had never heard of, oddly calling themselves "VCR". In total, there were 3 keyboardists, a bassist, and a drummer. I must admit, I was leery of their intentions, as the promenade of shit-rock has been pretty abundant as of late, especially in the "hey, lets do some whack-ass 80's nonsense" genre. (See "Reggie and the Full Effect)

But, in life, as I commonly find myself, in the words of Mike Ness (see "god"), "I was wrong". These kids rocked it hard as bitch-slap to the whore paying "daddy" $100 too little. Their singer was pretty much yelling and screaming the lyrics, not whining, but screaming all gruff and shit. It was bomb. And the female keyboardist, damn, it must be jelly…

These kids are gonna be big, watch out…

As Strike Anywhere began to setup, I only wanted one thing, to hear "Extinguish". Immediately, they started off with "We Amplify", the opener from this season's must have fashion 'Exit English', but instead of moving into the bridged "Blaze", the song morphed into the now classic opener "You're Fired". Alley Katz went fucking insane. People flying all over the place, pure mayhem.

You see, we southerners are too busy fucking sheep, milking cows and whatnot to know anything about punk, so when we get an event such as this, all hell breaks loose. Anyway, the set consisted mainly of tracks from 'Change is a Chorus'; with I believe the only other new track being "Infrared". Scenesters- please correct me if I am inaccurate. I'm guessing that the band wanted everyone to be a little more familiar with the new stuff before inserting more new songs into the set list.

All in all, as expected, and as usual, great set. A little too short, clocking in about 34 minutes, but given the circumstances, I'm pretty happy that we got to see the show at all.