STATIC
SPINESHANK
IGR
At The Alligator Lounge
By PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Right off the bat, any show of this caliber that Prince of Darkness can literally ride his bike to is a God/Satan-send. Of course, nothing is perfect, and there were some glitches to this gig. But when everything came out in the wash, it turned out to be a... well, unique show. There were other bands on the bill but Prince of Darkness; A) missed openers Weirdhead; B) missed closers Chinga Monkey; and C) the band that showed up late and fucked the whole schedule up, you guys are on double secret probation. Now, P of D had caught IGR on occasion at shows here and there but, quite frankly, never really paid a whole hell of alot of attention to 'em. On this occasion, however, He noticed something a little different. What, you ask? How about Larry from 96 Decibel Freaks playing guitar! Yes, it turned out that IGR's guitar player up 'n quit somewhere in Texas a couple days before the show, and in a hell of last minute bind got a very solid pinch-hitter to come to bat and more than make the grade. Other than the unexpected guitar cameo, the one thing that grabbed P of D's attention was singer Gong. The first impression was a young Phil from Pantera with more energy, and there seems to be some potential in this guy. Batten down the hatches, hide the women and children and for christs sake, warn the sheep, here comes SpineShank!!! But seriously, folks, you want an accurate description of this band? Okay. How about this: picture a jackhammer going through your skull and then you coming to the realization THAT YOU FUCKING LOVE IT! AND YOU WANT SOME MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE! Glad you agree, it's alot easier without a struggle. This particular gig really brought to light the fact that this is a band of veterans, meaning that no matter what curveball was being thrown to them, they always managed to knock it out. Tired of the baseball metaphors? Hey, P of D just came back from a Dodger game and the cliches are flowing like watered down Stadium beer. Sue him. Here, your scribe must come clean, as He was not always on this side of the fence. He originally thought there was a bit too much Sepultura in this mix, but the more He has seen and heard this band, the more He has come to appreciate how much they have grown, particurlarly with the stable lineup they now have. The songs performed, such as "Stain", were a prime example of why this band has been getting more and more well deserved respect by peers and fans alike. Also, one has got to love a band where guitarists, in this case Mike, drop their pants at the end of the set and dont miss a beat. All in the name of rock. Prince of Darkness will not win any popularity contests with this one, but it's true. On his own personal local band chart, Static have been making rapid strides and are now, at press time His favorite band on the circuit. Nothing personal, and things could very well change down the line. But as this is being entered, they just have that certain something. It's heavy, catchy, bouncy, and rude at the same time. Vocalist/guitarist Wayne growled the band through such power packed little ditties such as "Push It", with its KISS sample intro, the jumpy "Head", and "Love Dump", a soaring number that echoes back to early Ministry and boasts one of the classic lines of the year - major label or unsigned. Why Static? Why now? Well, P of D remembers something a certain fellow said when asked a question about climbing a certain mountain some years ago (using proper grammatical license or, if you choose, writers embellishment): because they were there. And they have cool lyrics, too.