Show Review

This was Steel Train's first show in Colorado, and while they showcased an amazingly talented group of musicians, they strayed a little more from their recorded material for me to enjoy their set. Let me start at the beginning, however, of what one might consider a not-so-great night.

First I drove out to Ft. Collins which, coming from Boulder, is an hour drive or so. When I finally arrived to the venue at the late start of about 8:30, The Berlin Project was wrapping up their set. Unfortunately, I missed this set, which would've been a definite upper to the evening which was filled with a rather large void of talent.

A local random metal band, sounding like Finch-wannabees, came up next. They ironically covered, or, rather, masscared, "What It Is To Burn," a song that has already been rendered two times, which was too much as it was. With their terrible electronic drumset that sounded like an electronic keyboard's drums, or a pitiful drum machine, and hollow guitars and vocals, this band just made me cringe. When they said their debut was coming out in Best Buy in a week or so, I was just shocked, appalled that a band with so little talent was actually getting that kind of distribution.

Regardless, Dexter Danger took the stage next, and while they had a little tighter of a sound, they sounded more like a high school band trying to play Blink 182. The singer tried to make the 20 in attendance do anything besides stare or walk away, but let's face it, who wants to see 3 power chords over and over, for 30 minutes? To top it off, he couldn't hit the high notes and had trouble singing the rather dull vocal lines, capitalizing on my disappointment.

As if it couldn't get any worse, "Conceiting The Victory," the one-manned solo acoustic act, took a seat on the edge of the stage, playing to a circle of kids as if it were a campfire. If I literally were to just pick up a guitar, for the first time, ever, I could play his songs...if you call them that. He played unplugged for an "intimate"-ly horrible waste of 10 minutes. I was doing all I could to stop from laughing at the literally pathetic attempt. Note to the kid: if your music sucks as it is, don't completely slaughter it by getting drunk..that's like mixing crap with crap and hoping for something decent. I'm suprised I even wrote a whole paragraph on the 10 minutes he "played."

Finally, as if I couldn't take it anymore, Steel Train took the stage, and they really rocked hard. Lots of almost excessive guitar soloing, which, while amazing, can get to your head. They did a lot of 70's style jamming, completing the set by handing kids some instruments and having them jam on stage with them. It was cool, but unfortunately, they only played 2 songs from their two EP's, and I couldn't help but be disappointed. Sure, "I Want You Back" and "Angelica" sounded amazing, but the fact that they didn't play any other songs from their recorded material makes me slightly confused. Why not perform the material you've recorded? In any case, they had a grandeur of talent the other bands couldn't even hardly amount to, and it's sheerly embarassing seeing bands like "Dexter Danger" and "Conceiting The Victory" (if you'd call that a band) open for a band with such a mass of talent. Regardless, if you are a fan of Steel Train and want to dance for an hour of jammage, check this show out. Otherwise, if you want to hear S.T. songs, don't get your hopes up.

review by Andrew Martin