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Ariel-X, My Downfall and Panama last night


calum

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My Downfall:

performance wise, i thought the drummer was pretty average, the drums didn't really have the pow that the music seemed to demand. a lot of trademark beats and nothing too out of the ordinary. girl drummers should be more agressive or angry than that. thought the singing was pretty poor, most of the time. suffered from being badly projected (as if you were mumbling to yourself, as opposed to belting the songs out as clearly and as loudly for the mic). maybe it'll change when your voice breaks, you may find it easier to project your voice then.

thought the songs were ok, though nothing new. surprised when you made the comment about songs from your old EP, which you wouldn't be playing for much longer - presumably because you don't think too much of them anymore - and then followed to play what i thought was your most original and catchy tune of the night. can't quite remember which one it was, but it may have been something like "save yourself".

didn't really like things like the cheesy between song banter (even if it was good that you were trying to engage the crowd), and complaining about your drummer's foot pedal not sticking to the kick drum repeatedly got annoying too. not sure if you got a soundcheck, but that's when things like this should be ironed out. i don't understand why (a) your drummer didn't fix the pedal herself and (b) you didn't try to fix the problem (e.g. the pedal was too loose, get a wedge/piece of cardboard, etc..) instead of fixing the symptoms.

i'm sure you'll learn all these things as you play more.

ariel x:

i liked this band, very professional and had a very polished stage show. i liked most of the songs, some interesting off-kilter beats and interesting changing of dynamics. music wasn't hugely original, but the vocals were good i thought, and some interesting guitar stuff. i sometimes wonder about the sound in kef, i wonder how good the sound system really is - and then you see a band like ariel x that just shows you what a good sound it can crank out. sometimes when a band really knows their set, and also their equipment setup very well, kef can be an amazing place to see a band.

the most interesting thing for me was really how much of a difference there was between my downfall and the touring band. the bands play through the same same house system, yet their sound as a whole was completely different in terms of sound quality, levels/dynamics. although it is as much to do with equipment used as anything else, i couldn't help thinking of the old SISO adage. i pitied the band that had to follow ariel x, because they put on such a good show.

panama:

ugh. a band that did some metal covers and then some of their own songs. to be honest, i think i preferred their own songs, because they totally trashed the cover versions. i think they started with chop suey by system of a down, and boy was it murdered. when they started, the music was not bad, i thought, maybe they've really worked this out... and then they started singing. dear god, if you are going to do a song like chop suey, then just go for it, scream your heart out and try for every note, instead of half heartedly demolishing the climax of the song. i really was despairing.

i'm not a fan of people that do that many covers, sorry.

it has to be said, i was impressed that fans for panama/my downfall stuck around for ariel x/panama and didn't bugger off early.

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The foot pedal problem started during the soundcheck, and neither the drummer nor the sound engineer could get it fixed, and they specifically told us to point it out to them if it was going wrong during the set. Unfortunately, because our set was cut short, we didn't get to play a couple of our stronger songs. Also, i know i suck at talking to the crowd, need to work at it.

Thanks for the feedback.

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Is there anyone from Panama on these boards? Just wondered. I thought instrumentally, Panama were really tight, but like us, I don't really think the vocals really matched up to the music. As with me, I feel that the guy with the colourful guitar struggled with power, but I didn't feel that Chop Suey was particularly well sung by the other guitarist,but I'm biased as i don't like System of a Down in the first place, so I should probably be ignored!

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In the not too distant future, but nothing's confirmed so i think it better remain a mystery. I'm guessing you were gallivanting off watching that sack of shite at Moshulu instead of coming to Kef, no :D ? When are From Her Ashes playing? I'm intrigued :love: ! Let me know. And come to the mystery show! :cheers:

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