mildread: I'm baaack! -- White Horse Pub, August 16, 2008

Okay folks! So I know it's been an eternity plus three since I last updated. I'm so sorry that I've fallen so behind; my camera cord broke (when it was in my camera bag...?) so after searching for an eternity for a USB cord for my poor little Nikon coolpix, I finally had to resort to getting a card reader. In addition, I have returned to Richmond for my second year at Virginia Commonwealth University. Now, after finally getting moved in, starting classes, and getting pictures uploaded, sorted, and organized, I finally have two seconds to breathe (read: blog) before all hell breaks loose again.

About two weeks ago, I had the fortune of attending an awesome, awesome, awesome bill at Virginia Beach's White Horse Pub. Richmond's Myotis and Virginia Beach's Mpiredwn and Hindu Pez presented a high-energy, entertaining show for an impressively sized crowd. All of the local music scene unification and promotion efforts must be doing something right; a crowd of at least 40 people filled the space nicely and gave it a great energy for the performers. The fact that there was no cover for those 21+ might have had something to do with it, although as a nineteen-year-old I was the only person in the entire group of people I was with that had to shell out $10 for the evening. That's a shame, because there are plenty of supportive and talented underage people who would have totally dug that event.

First up for the night were talented gothic dance-rockers Myotis of Richmond. The cool thing about Myotis is that they rotate on vocals, presenting a little something for everyone by the time they're through. My favorite songs were fronted by Yancy, supported by the absolutely gorgeous Melissa on keyboards and Jason on guitar. Yancy's voice is raw and unique, pushing through the pounding chords to reverberate with a dark fury out of the speakers. I only wish I could have heard them a bit more clearly; their sound was a bit flat coming out of the speakers, making the vocals slightly fuzzy and jamming the keyboard and guitar sounds together. Still, their show was fun to dance to and to watch.

Next up were the sublimely kick-ass Mpiredwn, who rocked so hard that I craved a Red Bull afterwards. They are great performers who aren't scared of interacting with the crowd and want

to make sure that people feel, not just hear their music. Their energetic frontman kept the crowd laughing in between songs and they played a well-arranged set, alternating the hard stuff with danceable songs and then tearing the place up all over again. I can't wait to see what these guys come up with in the future.

For the first time as part of Hindu Pez' live show, performer Gabriel Perry introduced a video mash-up of the bizarrely erotic and the curiously unsettling to accompany his intense industrial. With this impressive addition, the entire dynamic of his live show has changed completely, turning his show into a multimedia performance that had the crowd in attendance in awe. I don't want to spoil it for anyone interested in seeing his show, but as a crowd of monkeys dressed as

children rode their bikes across the screen, I took a moment to myself and thought, "Holy shit, this is AWESOME." Deserving of a special shout-out is his gorgeous fiancee k@t, who collaborated on the footage. I can't wait to see him tighten it up (the duration of the film was over an hour, a long time for Hindu Pez to perform and a long time for a drunken audience to stay interested) and expand upon the idea of beat-matching video work. It was seriously one of the coolest things I have seen from the Virginia Beach goth/industrial music scene.

On a side note, you would think that venues supporting bands who can bring in an enthusiastic, well-behaved crowd that drinks generously and respects the music would take care of their clientele. I'm not asking for a personal attendant with miniature bottles of mouthwash and hand cream but White Horse Pub's bathrooms could use a little work. And that's putting it mildly.

In conclusion, kudos to the bands, the venue, and the super-supportive crowd for making this a kick-ass show. Hopefully this is just the beginning in what will become an awesome underground industrial/gothic rock/synthpop/et cetera component to the local music scene. Make sure to stay in touch with these fabulous musicians and thanks, as always, for supporting the hard work of these awesome people.

And since I know all you camwhores wanna see 'em... PICTURES!