Last year I saw No Age in Tampa with Les Savy Fav. I drove all the way from Gainesville so I was pretty stoked to see the band that I'd been in love with for a while. Some local band opened, I didn't catch their name due to the fact there was free PBR around and lots of new people to meet. After the first band set up, I realized that it was taking quiet a while to soundcheck for No Age. After half an hour or so No Age finally take the stage. It's pretty obvious that they're annoyed with the soundcheck. Their act cool anyway and begin to tear shit up. The sound is off though because they are meant to be heard at higher volumes. I make sure to bitch to my friends around me that this is fucked up.
So everything is going okay for a few songs with the volume still low. Next thing you know the drum vocals go out (if you've never seen No Age, that's the main vocals). They don't stop playing though and just sing really loud while trying to get a mic off to the side of the stage to see if it'll work. No success. That mic is also fucked. After that it's an uphill battle. All the mics start slowly going out. It's starting to look like sabotage from the sound guys running the show. To me that makes so sense because No Age wasn't even on tour, that got paid by Nike to play the 10yr. anniversary of the Skate Park of Tampa. They flew from L.A. That's fucking ridiculous.
During the last song "Everybody's Down", the guitarist Randy Randall climbs to the highest part of the stage after he loops the main guitar riff. While this is happening Dean Spunt the drummer starts grabbing the drum mics that are surprisingly still working and starts to sing the words to the song. Dean then starts walking to the front of the stage passing out mics to the crowd who is also singing the words as loud as possible. Then as soon as Dean runs back the drums Randy jumps from where he's at and the song starts. It explodes. The crowd goes nuts into a giant mosh pit and the set is saved.
After the set I met Randy and told him I'd punch a sound guy in the head for both of us having a having a frustrating night, Randy more so. He laughed and said it's cool. I've still not had a good time in Tampa. Tis had been my 4th trip.
The new No Age EP is streaming for free at Subpop.com, and it's called Losing Feeling. Stream it here for free.
No Age: "Genie" off the new EP
When the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan in the 60's, the Hackney brothers were made to sit down and watch the performance as it was supposed to be monumental. Soon after that, the brothers start an R and B band in Detroit , Michigan. Alice Cooper comes to town soon after that and the Hackney's decide they want to be a hard rock band named DEATH (fourth photo from the top). The rest is history.
They didn't have much recorded material, but what they did record was life changing. It was unheard of in 1971 for 3 African Americans to be playing this hard rock/proto punk. It kind of reminds me of a mix between the Clash and MC5, but more intense.
The band's getting back together and playing Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest. I hope I can go. Shit's going to be nuts if they can still rock.
Woven Bones (fifth photo from the top) is an Austin based who loves primitive drums and loud abrasive, fuzzed out guitars. Think of "Sister Ray" by the Velvet Underground or "Rumble" by Link Wray. I actually had one of these guys in my art history class in Gainesville. There are other comparisons such as Jesus and Mary Chain, which I thought of immediately. Either way, the songs are killer.
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