show: zao, unearth, underoath, dead poetic, underwater
date: wednesday, july 17th, 2002
location: tulagi's, boulder, co

by: rob tatum

This show was one I was looking forward to quite some time.  I hadn’t seen some of the bands, and a couple, such as Unearth, hadn’t been to Colorado for some time. 

The first band was called the Underwater.  These guys appeared really nervous.  I might be crazy, but I really liked this band.  From the looks of it, I don’t think that they have been around too long, but there is a ton of potential here.  They play emo-core with vocals similar to those of Boy Sets Fire (minus the screaming).  The only downfalls of this band are that their guitarists are not phenomenal, as a matter of fact, they used three guitars for most their songs to make up for the lack of exquisite talent.  And that their attempts at breakdowns were pretty weak.  On the bright side, they still put on a decent show.  I picked up their CD after seeing them perform.  I would really like to see this band in two or three years because they should progress into something really good. 

Second was Dead Poetic.  They are on Solid State , so I assume that they are Christian, but anyway, they are a hardcore band with some emo parts.  I must be out of the loop or something because I had never heard these guys.  Their singer reminds be of the guy from Grade.  Their music flows really well.  It is far from spectacular, but it is easy to sing along to and they make it sound better than it really is.  Most of the songs are basic, with little difficulty, but they are arranged in a manner that makes them sound a lot better than it appears to the naked eye (or ear for that matter) Their singer is really energetic and keeps the crowd from getting bored.  They were a nice warm up for the rest of the bands.

Next was Underoath.  Yet again, a Christian band on Solid State , but much harder and more metal than Dead Poetic.  These guys flat out rock.  The only complaint that I have is the keyboards.  They have almost no effect on the music and could be cut-out without ever noticing they were gone.  One of the things I really liked was the back-up vocals sang by the drummer.  Not only is it cool that they are sang by the drummer, but he has a cool voice.  The lead singer has a voice somewhat similar to the singer of Zao, very hoarse sounding at times.  Beyond that, they have some awesome guitar work topped of with a tight stage performance.  A lot of bands can sit there and stare right back, but Underoath goes off.  Check these guys out if you haven’t heard them, their CD is really good.

The best band of the night, by far, was Unearth.  These guys rule.  A brilliant mix of metal and hardcore from Boston , they write some of the most energetic music out right now.  The breakdowns are placed perfectly to get the crowd moving.  I don’t know if I have seen that much hardcore dancing in a long time.  All the kids were going off when Unearth played.  I wish I could see these guys everyday.  If haven’t heard Unearth, do me a huge favor, get out from under your rock and check them out.  They may be a little too metal for the hardcore kids, and a little too hardcore for the metal kids, but so long as you can get into heavy stuff, this band should be to your liking.  Based on the crowd, I would say that a good majority of them were there for Unearth, not for Zao.  A lot of them left after Unearth had finished their set.

Lastly was Zao, the flagship hardcore/metal band from Solid State .  Their performance kind of tore me because it was somewhat disappointing, as they played with a bass, but it was also uplifting to see original members.  Zao has more or less fallen from my liking over the last year or so, but they had always been a good live band, and that is still true, but musically, they don’t really do much for me anymore.  For that reason, it might be good that this was their last show ever in Colorado as they embark on their final tour ever.  I enjoyed hearing some of the older songs as the band wasn’t a bunch of fill-in members up on stage, but I really would’ve liked to have experienced it with a bass.  Also, being that it was older members, they hadn’t played together in a while, and it showed in two ways: they weren’t feeling each other like most bands do, and they had a very short set by Zao standards of only about 40 minutes.

Although the show ended on a somewhat low, it was the first show that I have been to in quite some time where I enjoyed every band that played in some way or another.  If you missed this one, you missed out on some fun and some good hardcore.  Hopefully you’ll be at the next show.  Until next time, have fun, be safe, and keep rocking.

rating: 86%/100%