Yesterday I checked out the free Mission Of Burma show at the Solar1 space on the East River. This was my first trip to the Solar1 space and I was surprised by how small it was. At most it could hold maybe 400 people, which is small for an outdoor space.
They had some really good food there - Indian bread, vegan & regular pizza, hummus, etc. It was also nice that the police presence was pretty much non-existent, which made it easier to drink.
Despite the fact that it was warm throughout NYC along the river it wasn't quite as nice. I like to think that's why there was barely anyone there. The opening bands certainly didn't help with attendance. They were playing mostly hippie jam bullshit, which was pretty excruciating. We went across the street to Peter Cooper Village and kicked around the soccer ball to kill time during the opening bands.
When Burma took the stage everyone pushed towards the stage. Mind you that
everyone only equaled about 150 people. When they burst into the first song I noticed that the amps on stage were much louder then the actual house speakers. Needless to say the mix was pretty bad and could have been much better if they just told the band to turn the amps down a bit.
Despite the sound MOB played a pretty killer set. The cold breeze coming off the river was pretty distracting though. I've seen MOB before and I have to say that performance wise this was an awesome show. MOB was clearly having a good time and that always makes for a better show. But with the cold and the sound considered it was far from perfect. That said I had fun. It's always awesome to hear some old school punk rock, especially when it's free.
If you haven't heard the reunited Cavalera brothers (Max & Igor of Sepultura fame) have started a new band called The Cavalera Conspiracy. While the name kinda sucks the music does not. It's very similar to Chaos A.D. era Sepultura, maybe even Arise/Beneath The Remains at times. Take a listen to the MP3's below.
