~9/07/02-Sparta, Bluebird, Crosstide [The Meow Meow. Portland]

Today is exactly one month to the day since I attended this show. It was held at the Meow Meow, one of the few remaining all ages venues in Portland. It's small, it's got small ceilings, it's always unbearably hot, but I've never been let down by a show here. Crosstide, who I'd just seen the night before, opened this show. I was a bit more impressed with their perfomance in Bend the day before. Hometown pride I guess. I don't know what to say about these kids that hasn't been said. They rock, emo style. I think I've seen them 5 or 6 times now, and it never gets old. Their style may not be for everyone, but I for one am impressed. Bluebird was up next. I knew nothing about these guys, so had no clue what to expect. They came out on stage and proceeded to explode into their sets. These guys rocked very hard. I don't know quite how I'd classify them. It's not really punk, or indie, or metal, or any of the other thousands of genres out there. They just kicked ass. Hard rocking sets that were only enhanced by the energy the lead put into his performance. Jumping around the stage, climbing on gear, running into the audience for entire songs that culminate with him lying on the ground. One of the best acts from a lead that I've seen. They paved the way nicely for the headliner. Ahh, Sparta! One of the two bands to rise from the ashes of At The Drive In. They released an EP, Austere, a few months back, to tease us before the full length, and I was really impressed with its sound. When the full length, Wiretap Scars was released I rushed down to pick it up and I highly recommend you all do the same. It's easily one of the best cd's I've heard this year, if not THE best. The kids in the band put on an incredible show. They sounded incredible live, even apologizing if they sounded bad due to monitor problems. Their 12 song set included all but one of the tracks off of Wiretap Scars, and also included one song from the EP. It's refreshing to see a band perform as well live as they sound on their recorded stuff, and I'm pleased to say that Sparta sounds just as good, if not better. They finished up the evening with the second track off of their full length-'Air', and then left the stage. If I have any complaints it'd be that I wanted them to play even longer than they did. Their first video for 'Cut Your Ribbon' is starting to go into rotation on MTV, and I expect their popularity to only grow in the coming months. It's truly an incredible experience to be able to see bands like this in small venues. The intimacy of being so close to that much talent is rarely felt at larger locations.