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Gold Chains, Hella, Experimental Dental School, Sexy Prison
Espresso Metro, February 14th 2003
      Some of the best shows in the last year or so have went down at Espresso Metro. Personally, some of my favorite shows that I've seen and played went down at Metro. I don't think that anybody will be able to top the Coachwhips bathroom spectacle last month as the funnest show of the year (including the Coachwhips themselves, who put in an abortive, somewhat flat set at Primo's last week). Jay Howell's done a good job putting on shows there. So it's easy to forget that Metro is a makeshift venue. In terms of decor and atmosphere, it's a little lacking even as coffeehouses go. And sometimes, bands just don't come off so well there. Last Friday night, Metro claimed two more acts.

      I've heard some hype about Gold Chains and was psyched to see them. Gold Chains (Topher LaFata) is described as an electro rap (as on his website), spitting out rhymes buoyed by laptop beats and the Gold Chains dancer girls and by almost all accounts, it's supposed to be mighty impressive. But on this night and in this venue, it was a bit of a letdown. Major trouble with the sound system threw Topher off his rhythm from the start and he never seemed to recover. Perhaps Metro is just too small a stage for his thing (there is actually no stage at Metro). In any case, I'm not ready to write off Gold Chains. Just an off-night with things out of his control.

      Hella played a set and it was very pleasant to be able to actually see them without being crushed by 20 persons on every side. I'm getting close to double digits on live Hella shows and they're pretty damn consistent. I've never seen them play a bad show and this was a good but not great show. Everybody should have some clue about these guys so I won't describe them. Check out the bands list or the interview if you want to get a grasp of what they sound like.

      Experimental Dental School -- the first time I saw them was at Primo's and I thought they were awesome. This weird, circus-y dance punk music that made everyone move. Since then, they've played at Espresso Metro a couple times and the place just doesn't agree with them. Rock shows in general have a hard time getting off at Metro due to the spacious, somewhat sterile feel to the place and it really hurts bands like Experimental Dental School, who are at their best in closed quarters with people who are moving. I'd really like to see them at a different place.

      Sexy Prison opened the show but I was fashionably late and missed them. As you can see from the picture above, they were unfashionably present. Check out the Coachwhips review if you want to know more about them.



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