~7/31/02-H20, Madcap, Authority Zero, 800 Octane [B Complex, Portland]

We headed up to Portland and made our way to 2nd to try to find the B Complex before we made the obligatory stops at record stores. After driving around the block several times I decided to stop the car and ask just where the venue was as I couldn't find a sign or anything. Eventually we were pointed to a small door hidden back from the street. The only sign was an arrow with "b complex" written with what looked like a crayon pointing back to the door. Fearing the worst I was pleasantly surprised to see that the interior of the venue was really nice. Much different from what I expected. Good sized room, huge stage, it's cool.  800 Octane opened the show, to a tiny crowd (or so I assumed) of about 40 people. I was rather interested in seeing how their temporary drummer, David, would do to replace their old guy, Jim. I'm pleased to report that he kicked ass. I was even more impressed when I was told he'd only been playing with them for four days! Tonight only confirmed the fact that 800's got an awesome group of fans. The support and applause they made for the boys more than made up for the small crowd that showed early enough to catch their set. 800 did a nice round of songs, new stuff, old stuff, Day of the Dead, Golden Road. But no Berserker. Damn you. Damn you to hell. Even thought it wasn't the best performance I've seen from 800, the sheer fact that their drummer was brand new made it incredible. I think everyone was surprised at how well the guy did. I saw 800's last performance with Jim, and the first with David, and things are looking good. Next up was Authority Zero, and I really liked their hybrid sound. They play a punk/ska style with some definite reggae influences. These guys (like 800 before them) were all over the huge stage, and the lead put a ton of energy into his performance this night. Madcap took the stage, and while they played really well I just wasn't into their set. I enjoy their music, but their performance seemed almost subdued. Eh, maybe it was just me. During the entire show I kept looking around and thinking that the venue seemed extremely empty. This can be a bad sign sometimes, as some bands won't get quite as amped up when they look out and see the venue is half empty. I began to fear that H20 would be one of those bands. Then they took the stage, and holy fuck, I couldn't have been more wrong. The boys came out full speed, and didn't slow down all night long. They played two songs, one of which was unreleased, then announced that due to the small size of the audience they were doing something different, and would be "taking your requests untill we're too tired to play anymore". They'd pull someone out of the audience and bring them on stage, asking their name, where they were from, and what song they'd like to hear. A few members then started the songs, while others dived happily off the stage into the waiting hands of the extremely enthusiastic crowd. They played a huge variety of songs, including at least two more unreleased ones, and several covers, from Ice Cube to U2. At one point this little kid who couldn't have been more than 11 got on stage and requested Like A Prayer. He then proceeded to fling himself off the stage, while the band launched into a ripping cover of the Madonna classic. During the first encore the lead singer jumped into the crowd and got a gigantic circle pit rolling through the entire venue. As if this wasn't enough, for the second encore and final song the band had damn near the entire crowd of 80-something people climb up on stage, while the band took to the floor to play 5 Year Plan up to them.  Truly an incredible performance, and a band that knows how to treat their fans well. I know that no one who attended this show would forget how great H20 is to their audience. Not many national acts would give up the stage to their fans and play from the floor.