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I'm really starting to like the Bend Community Center. There's something appealing about smaller venues, even if they aren't the swankest places ever. The intimacy you get from seeing a band on the floor from two feet away can't be beat by watching them on a stage 20 feet away in a really nice venue. Tonight's show opened with local boys Orchi Bort, and I'm sorry to say that I missed the majority of their set. The small bit of their sound check I heard showed me that they're starting to get much tighter in their sound. Next up was End on End, who were supposed to be headlining the show, but were made to be second because the other two bands were late in arriving to the venue. They set up a little differently from most bands, with the drum kit facing sideways. End On End is a great band who's sound I hate to classify as just hardcore. Their sound didn't stay stuck in simply one area of style but had some post hardcore influences and punk mixed in with the standardized hardcore sound. Melodic bits blend into intense screaming sections while the singer bounced around energetically. They put on a really good show, if a bit short for my tastes. After a short wait the other two bands made their way to the venue, and Wilmot Proviso sat down to play. Wilmot is a one man acoustic deal, and it was a nice change of pace from the usual stuff we see at Bend shows. It's a weird thing to have an acoustic set in the middle of a hardcore show, but to my surprise the crowd was more receptive than I was expecting. There were of course a few people who were too punk rock and left or sneered, but they were outnumbered by people who stuck around. He put on a good show, and with any luck we'll see more of this sort of thing soon. The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower was next, and for me they were the happy surprise of the night. They put on an incredibly energetic show, that started out with a hardcore sound that wound up having no boundaries. Plots overall sound was very jazz influenced, with the singer occasionally taking a break from his frantic singing to fall to the ground, drop his mic in a saxophone and start playing. They put on one of the better shows I've seen lately, and I was really impressed, if a bit disappointed in how short their set was. (I heard something about the singer being sick, so that might have had something to do with it. I highly recommend you download some of Plots music from their site, you won't be let down.
