Saliva, Rev Theory, Seven Day Sonnet
Sammy T's Music Hall, Huntsville, AL
$24
See all the photos from this show here
After a full ten month absence, I was very glad to finally get the chance to see Saliva perform again! Considering that I had caught five shows in a matter of ten months between August of 2009 and June of 2010, I was more than ready to head off to another one of their awesome shows. As soon as they announced their tour dates and I saw that one of the shows was going to be at Sammy T's in Huntsville, I knew exactly where I had to be that night! I quickly booked half a day off from work and grabbed my ticket so I would be assured that I wouldn't be left outside!
When the day arrived, I left work at 3:45, completely anticipating arriving in Huntsville around 5:00. Well I'm not sure what I was thinking because I ended up arriving around 5:45...I really could have sworn that Huntsville was only about an hour and 15 minutes away, but apparently not! haha I met Smootch in the parking garage around the corner from Sammy's, and luckily she'd only been waiting for about 15 minutes by the time I arrived. Since I was starving by that point, we jumped into Humphrey's, which was a pub type of place down the street where I had a crawfish po boy for dinner, and we both grabbed a few drinks.
Poof that hair, Smootch. It's almost show time!
By 6:30, we were in line to get in, and luckily we were both still able to get right up next to the stage, with Smootch being right at the stage, and me being just behind her. Luckily for us, there were only a few other people who were willing to brave the hours of standing just for a spot up front (one of which was "Star Lady" whose real name I've now forgotten, who always throws star shaped confetti when they sing "Superstar")
The bill was packed with five bands that night, so they ended up starting early just so they could get everyone in.
The first band to play was Down From Up, who were pretty good, despite my having never heard any of their music. The lead singer was quite the cutie, so they were fun to watch if for no other reason than that haha
Smootch has a little fun poking the guys in the butt
And again...really getting up in there hahaha
Next up came Seven Day Sonnet, who were the sleeper hit of the night. Again, I hadn't heard any of their music prior to their performance, but they ended up being awesome!
The lead singer was a combo of very happy and very intense, both smiling and screaming with the same enthusiasm. But the bass player stole the show!
Anthony, immediately post Smootch-butt-poke
Before they even started playing, Smootch had been messing with him by poking him in the butt or pointing at him and staring him down in a playful way. I even made an "I'm watching you" motion with my hand, to which he motioned that he was watching all of us haha. So through the entire show, he kept making faces at us and mugging for our cameras, and even tossed Smootch a couple of guitar picks. Too fun!
Giving us the evil eye
How do those picks taste, huh?
Rocking it out
The next band on the bill was Emphatic, who really just didn't do it for me.
The tattoo on his arm is a pig on a rocket that says "Uranus or Bust." Come on...I mean, really?
The lead singer seemed like one of those guys who is all "LOOK AT ME!" but then never really interacted with the crowd. I didn't see much eye contact, and he didn't do any pointing, smiling or anything else to engage the crowd. Too bad since they actually sounded pretty good.
What is this sharp thing, and why is it 6 inches from my head??
The fourth band of the night was Rev Theory, who is apparently quite popular despite my having never heard of them. At multiple times through their set, they held the microphones out to the audience, and the audience sang back the lyrics, so apparently they get a lot of air play in Huntsville! Their set was solid, and while I am probably not running out to grab their album, I was sufficiently entertained.
Finally it was time for the main event...Saliva! The last time I saw them was last June at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, when they opened for Puddle of Mudd. I definitely prefer to see them when they are headlining since you know that the vast majority of the folks in the crowd are there to see them instead of someone else. That also means that the crowd will be much more into the performance, which will in turn make the band's performance better. Also, considering that the Saliva show last year at Sammy T's has gone down as one of the very best concerts I've ever been to, I had very high hopes for the show! Beforehand, as they were setting up, we saw that Saliva had 15 songs on their set list! Nice!
When Saliva took the stage, their performance was just as awesome as ever. Saliva truly provides a top notch concert experience...lots of audience interaction, lots of movement around the stage (at least on Josey's part), and overall just a very enjoyable performance. The one bummer to the whole thing though is the fact that Jonathan Montoya isn't with the band anymore. I had wondered in advance if the performance would feel like it was missing anything since Jonathan wasn't there anymore, and I can definitely say that it DID feel like something was missing. With Wayne, Dave and Paul all being basically stationary through the entire show, it fell on Josey's shoulders to do all the entertaining. And he's definitely good at that, but it was very nice to also have Jonathan there to watch as well as Josey. He just added that extra bit of excitement to the show, which is definitely lacking these days. But really, the show was still very good, and the performance was still solid, despite Jonathan's absence.
Much like last year, Josey came right out to the edge of the stage, and even got close enough so we could touch his hair a few times! But he didn't get close enough for us to touch all over him like we did last time hahaha I really suspect that that was due to two burly security guards who were watching those of us up front like a hawk. Considering that the show last May was so over-the-top awesome, I definitely didn't go into this show expecting the same experience. So I wasn't disappointed that he didn't get that close again. It would have been nice! But I wasn't expecting it. Security also showed their ugly faces when they sang "Superstar" and "Star Lady" started to throw the star confetti onstage. After the song, a guy ran out, brushed the stars off the set list, and was like "Stop throwing stuff!!" Killjoy!
One final shot of Josey
Near the end of the set, those of us up front noticed that they had breezed straight through their set list, playing Your Disease, which was slated to be an encore, right along with the rest of the set. So once they left the stage, there was no encore. Boo! I managed to grab one of the set lists off the stage, while Smootch had made her way out with four drumsticks from the different bands!! As some crew guys were cleaning up, I motioned to one of them to toss Josey's towel to me, so he did! It ended up being soaking wet hahaha But it's all good. On the way out, Paul was in the lobby socializing with everyone, but since I've met him twice, I kept my distance and let everyone else speak to him.
Uh oh! Where did that photo come from?? :-)
On the way out the door, we found the Seven Day Sonnet bass player, who immediately recognized us and started chatting with us.
Me with Anthony of Seven Day Sonnet
Of course, since he was so fun and friendly, Smootch and I both bought a copy of their CD for $5. See how that works? He flirts with the ladies up front at the show, which makes them buy his CDs afterward. He knows how to work it! But I didn't mind, and the CD actually ended up being really good! Can't wait to hear a full album from them! We didn't end up hanging around very long since none of the other Saliva guys were hanging around.
On the way back to the car, we spotted two guys in the parking garage peeing onto someone's car! Eww!! hahaha Once we were on our way, we made a stop at Waffle House for some post-concert grub, then I made the almost two hour drive back to Nashville, arriving around 3:30am.
My next show? Well, I have two back-to-back shows in the next week! Next up is Hopsin, with the star attractions being performances by S.G.F. and Stitchmouth, then Stone Temple Pilots the next day!
-Julie
