After a very long work day Friday, due to lots of anticipation for the weekend, the night was scheduled to be spent at Bush Barn watching
Symmetry/Symmetry , drinking wine and socializing with fellow members of
Salem Art Association That, sadly, never came to pass due to the loss of my wallet a whole week prior. So I went home in a huff and spent the night playing video games (I know).
Saturday was off to a good start, morning breakfast at the Sassy Onion, Yum! Then Costco for some essentials. My wife and I spent the afternoon running errands. Then, once 5 o' clock rolled around, my family came down from Portland and we were off to the
IKE Box for our show.
Chris Baron was the first on at 7pm. An acoustic solo act for the night (he usually is accompanied by his band
Searchlights ). His peformance had a warmth to it that invited you to relax as he delivered his life experiences via clever guitar lines and strong vocal clarity.
Then, we (
Violet Isle ) went on @8pm. It was a fun show and being as it was our third time at the Ike Box it was much easier to make adjustments for the acoustics in the room.
Lastly,
Kopath Bear came on and sadly were at maybe a 75%, due to not having their keys player (a stand in was present for the show) and over half of them sick with a cold. I was still very impressed with their set. The singer played acoustic and roared his way through most the set with a Kings of Leon-esque tone to his voice. The drummer was stiff and played more by feel than memory it seemed. The guitarist complimented the acoustic well and I found thier chemistry enjoyable. The bassist was a stand alone in my mind. His technique was clean and the lines were well crafted- it was bass playing that deserved recognition. Over all, the sound was rough, bass guitar was overwhelming, the songs were a good kind of Indie/Progressive with well placed stops and pauses. This band seems to be the kind of band that could take on some serious momentum, and I look forward to seeing where it will take them and also catching another show when they are at 100%.
After the show we decided to head over to the
Nightmare Factory with a couple of friends.
Being as it was near closing the line had deminished and we were able to get in quickly on general admission. The wait was enjoyable the line weaved through a clever maze of haunting images with the occasional spookers creeping up on people in line lost in conversation.
The actual trip through the Factory was a flurry of high quality special effects and mechanics. The themes were enjoyable and we found there were many opportunities to jump back in fright but, mostly found ourselves in "awe" of the quality of this production. Everyone, including myself; was impressed and felt it was a worth while experience. Maybe not the creepiest, scariest, place to go. But enjoyable none the less.
Sunday was family day and then practice in Portland later that night. Followed by a long drive home in our new family friendly car. My weekend was on a scale of 1 to 10: an 8, and that is pretty damn good.
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