Midnight Mischief
Recently, I was overwhelmingly excited to have myself a truly unbelievable night…a night that belonged to me… and San Francisco.
The boys and I got dressed in our best on a Saturday evening. The day was spent trying to dig our way out of sand traps and the new tract housing units built along the fairway. The idea of going out came on a whim when I received a phone call from my mother at 2 o’ clock that afternoon (somewhere between apologizing for a broken window and Teddy jumping into the course’s duck pond), informing me that it was my grandmother’s birthday and I should give her a call. After sending my love and thanking Grams for the random sock shipment, I thought a celebratory shot would be in order to commemorate her special day. One shot of Captain turned into four, which in turn led to a call to Ron, our cab driver, and a $400 withdrawal from the ATM.
An hour later we were walking into Ruby Skye, betting on which one of us could last the longest before getting shot down by some of ‘Frisco’s hottest girls. With a soothing buzz riding shotgun, I decided to take a trip over to the VIP booths to see what faces were taking spaces. Most of the people in the VIP area were nothing short of gorgeous hipsters playing the part to a tee; however, there was one group of women who seemed a bit out of place. I crept a bit closer to see what the catch was and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t my grandmother and her birthday crew. Teddy, Luke, and Steve had called my mom and told her to invite all the women from the birthday party out to Ruby and that a VIP booth would be waiting for them. There I am, hammered drunk at 10 p.m., and there’s my grandmother (and entourage) sitting at a booth looking as out of place as a pickle in a peanut farm. To top it all off, my boys are standing behind me with grins from ear to ear, informing me that I was looking at my present to my grandmother, all $600 dollars of it. We get settled in and ordered a few drinks while making incredibly awkward small talk, and Teddy decides to hit the ground running with four shots of Cuervo in less than a minute. Forty-five minutes later, Teddy is making the rounds on my grandmother’s friends by asking them if they wanted to catch a bus to "Pound Town"…it was definitely time to go.
I woke up in the morning at my grandmother’s house in North Bay with a splitting headache and one shoe missing. Luke was in the bathroom tenderly embracing the throne. Steve had done what looked like an Iron Chef America in the kitchen and had bananas and cottage cheese everywhere. Teddy was gone. The best part of the story is this: My grandma woke up that morning, made breakfast, put unopened toothbrushes on the counter for the three of us, and had already gone to church by the time Ruth called for us to come get Teddy.
Malcolm Bliss
This Sacramento rock group has been floating around the scene for six years now. Vocalist Jason Spyers proves his talent with a diverse rocking range.
Progressive chunky riffs from guitarist Eric Miller and the low end from drummer Brian Spiess and bassist Matt Augusta make their sound funky. The band can be found at www.myspace.com/newmalcombliss They’re working on a brand new ep due out soon.
Papercity Skyline
In the works since 2005, Papercity Skyline has been somewhat of a whisper in the scene until now. Singer Jerry was the brainchild front man for Stilllife Projector. Alex on drums, TJ and Jeremy on guitars and Jonny on bass were all members of Athena in Hades.
The band’s hard-core music is highly complimented by Jerry’s scream-into-melodic vocals. With tons of energy and bouncy riffs Papercity Skyline’s stage show is far from boring. They’re planning on releasing a debut cd sometime soon. Check out their MySpace www.myspace.com/papercityskyline
Traits Of A Killer
Formed earlier this year members include Jaramia Bond founder/ drummer from Pollock Pines, Cody former guitarist from Skribble Bryan, former member of Beating A Dead Horse, and Jeff former bassist of Skribble. Crushing hard-core metal their sound is catastrophically heavy with well organized vocals. They’re also currently working on an album www.myspace.com/traitsofakiller
A Band Called Pain
Since 2001, A Band Called Pain has been developing their muscular style and entertaining thousands. Allen Richardson (vocals), Shaun Bivens (guitar & b.g. vocals), Tony Providence (drums), and Bryan Dean, a.k.a Dark Kent (bass) form one of the best metal bands in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Whichever end of the spectrum a rock connoisseurs taste my lie, ABCP’s versatile style satisfies. From ballads to thrash, they do it all, and do it well. They’ve developed quite a buzz in the Bay Are, but have yet to break into the Sacramento scene. check them out at www.abandcalledpain.com
Point 3
Hailing from San Jose, Point 3 was founded in 2001 by front man Mark Heaps. The band received extremely positive reviews for their first full album The Short Illustrations of Disproportion released in 2005. Pulling influences not only from music, but also from all other elements of daily life, the band has just released their 2nd full-length album Semper Sursum. The album title is Latin for "always rising," which encompasses the band’s experience through our ever-changing world. It’s about the spirit to endure and persist no matter what is thrown your way. Their CD Release show is on Aug 30th at the Britannia Arms in Cupertino.
