Fort Worth Rock Assembly
II
J&J’s Blues Bar
Sept 6, 7 & 8th
This past weekend, September 6
th-8
th, a slew of Fort Worth music scene-sters got
together to put on an EPIC show with 23 bands covering various iconic bands
from 1965-1985. The result- one of the
best weekends in Fort Worth Music for 2013.
Music played for 8 hours, three days in a row at J&J’s Blues Bar
complete with food trucks, and great memories.
There were plenty of sponsors, including Coors Light. There were two stages, one outside with a huge
Red Bull tent and beer bar, and the one inside J&J’s.
Saturday 9/7
I arrived a bit early on Saturday, catching
Sun City
covering Velvet Underground.
There
weren’t that many people in attendance at this point in the evening to enjoy
this band.
They did a commendable job,
and really conveyed the essence of Velvet Underground.
The female lead has a clear, precise voice
and it resounded outside as she sang “Sweet Nothing”, by far the best song of
their set.
Back inside,
Igneous Grimm
covered King Crimson.
The first song, “I
talked to the Wind” was by far my favorite.
I will definitely get in the know on both King Crimson AND their local
tribute counterpart, Igneous Grimm.
More
people had arrived and definitely enjoyed this performance.
Outside,
Siberian Traps started
their R.E.M. set and they did an amazing job.
Tony Diaz, conceiver of the Fort Worth Rock Assembly event, bragged that
Siberian Traps are Fort Worth’s best kept secret.
They definitely did R.E.M. justice.
One of the guitar/vocalists, Parker,
confessed he didn’t know about R.E.M. before taking on this project.
Replicating
someone else’s work, and learning a whole set of songs to perform, is
definitely not an easy task!
One of the
many reasons this idea is genius.
I had to leave and go to work at this point, thankful the
next day I would catch all 8 hours!
Sunday 9/8
Sunday I arrived at J&J’s super early. A couple of bands had dropped out, so they
pushed the start time from 3pm to 5pm.
Probably best because no one really showed up until then anyways.
The
Vatican Press started the day outside embodying The Clash.
Not only did Vatican Press cover great hits
like “I Fought the Law”, but they did a few of their own songs toward the end
which I thought were awesome.
I’ve never
heard this band before, but they did play an original and I dug it!
They’re an old school punk band so it made
sense why The Clash was their choice to cover.
Good to see diverse genres in the Indie Rock scene.
Inside,
The Frisky Disco was covering
Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Hayden not
only is lead vocalist, but he plays guitar and keyboard as well.
He is such a talented performer, very
animated with a voice of a Rock God.
They covered songs like “Good Golly Miss Molly” where at one point both
Tyler and Hayden got down on the guitar.
One lady in the crowd asked me after that song “They’re over 21, right?”
When I asked Tyler how old he is, he responded
“22”.
She goes on to tell him how
talented he is, goes on and on with me how she’s seen guys in their 60’s who
have half the talent of these guys.
Frisky Disco, you got yourself a new fan that night.
One of the best was “I Put a Spell on You”; a
great cover of a great song by a spectacular band!
Always fun to watch and at the end, they
performed one of their rocking originals with Hayden on the keyboard, belting
out “You can take away my home, but you can’t take away my heart.”
Such talent.
Kevin Aldridge &
the Appraisers played The Cars outside. Hearing them brings flashbacks to the
late 70’s early 80’s, right?
They
replicated the music of The Cars near flawlessly.
Top three were “My Best Friends Girl”, “You
Might Think”, and of course, “Drive”.
Such a great set choice and Kevin & the Appraisers did The Cars
justice.
Next was
Secret Ghost Champion
inside covering The Beatles.
John Lennon
came down from Heaven and took over the stage this night.
The microphone had that eerie echo to it that
made it feel like Lennon was actually there in the room.
They covered “Strawberries Fields Forever”,
“She Said, She Said”, “Hey Bulldog”, and “Dear Prudence.”
The crowd was getting thick at this point,
and everyone was hypnotized by Secret Ghost Champions performance.
I’m sure watching the Beatles in their day was
similar to the experience this night.
The next act I caught was
Panic Volcanic’s version
of Deep Purple.
Panic Volcanic has an
interesting set up with Ansley “The Destroyer” on vocals, Zach on bass and
Chris on drums.
You read right, no lead
guitar.
But with Zach’s skills on the
bass, you’d never know it.
Besides, how
can you get past Ansley’s voice to even CARE about the guitar!
This girl has a set of pipes like Janis
Joplin, sharp like a knife and full of soul that comes from deep within.
Witnessing a Panic Volcanic performance is a
treat in itself, but watching them cover a band like Deep Purple and pull off a
song like “Space Truckin’” with such enthusiasm and pizazz is one of those
moments you tell your grandkids about.
Zach announces that “It wouldn’t be Rock n Roll without breaking some
rules,” so they played Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire”.
The crowd applauded and screamed after every song, packed up against the
stage.
Everyone was digging their
performance.
.
Last band of the night,
The Hanna Barbarians,
took the stage inside and covered Rod Stewart.
Any performance of Rod Stewart wouldn’t be complete without a mullet wig
and tights, which is what the lead singer sported.
The rest of the band donned wigs and printed
tights as well.
There were so many good
performances, but two of the most notable were “Hot Legs” and “Maggie”.
By this time the place was so packed and full
of life, people were dancing, enjoying the Hannah Barbarian’s antics.
They put on a great show, as they are known
to do.
Rock Assembly brought everyone out for the pure love of Rock
n Roll. I discovered some new acts I
hadn’t seen before. Every band put a great effort into learning the style of
the band they covered but definitely gave it their own Fort Worth Indie Rock
flair. It was a good weekend for the
Fort Worth music scene and I'm always grateful to be a part of it.
Full line up with
bands covered:
