Bet the Levels at Pub Yahoo

Last Saturday, I went to Pub Yahoo (off of Gary Ave.) in Carol Stream to see my friend's band play there.  I had not seen them play prior to last Saturday so I really didn't know what to expect.  Here is a breakdown of the musicians that I saw there.

Before I had walked in, there were a couple of solo artists that had performed there so I can't say anything about them.  The third solo artist of the night was about to start his set when I had walked in.  I don't remember his name or anything like that.  He was just an older teen with long, blonde hair.  He definitely prepared the songs that he played but his show was very laid back and unorganized which wasn't really a problem.  He first played a Nirvana song (I don't remember which one).  You could tell that he hadn't warmed up his voice first because he was really out of tune and sounded like shit.  After that, he sounded better.  Not amazing, but definitely better.  He mostly did covers but he played a couple of originals too.  The originals were simple but well-written.  He also did a cover of Nirvana's "Heart-shaped Box," David Bowie's "Man Who Sold the World,' (which, ironically, Nirvana also did a cover of), and Rise Against's "Hero of War."  For whatever reason, he appeared to be the most nervous during "Hero of War," probably because it was the least prepared of the songs he did.  He was rushing, a lot.  The song started fast and proceeded to get faster and faster.  He also consistenly flipped two words in the chorus around which drove me crazy (I listen to a decent amount of Rise Against).  He also lacked self-confidence.  He kept making a joke about wasting the audience's time.  He wasn't wasting my time.  I was enjoying his music.  With a little bit of effort and confidence adjustment, he will be a fine performer one day.

There was a girl that decided to pick up a guitar because the next scheduled band was late.  She was okay.  There really isn't much more to say about her.

Straggling in was a grunge band called Runch.  They were all teenagers and the bassist and guitarist had long blonde hair.  The drummer and guitarist were pretty talented.  Especially the guitarist!  He could play a grunge solo very well.  I know that doesn't sound hard.  Just play random notes right?  It's harder than you would first think.

However, despite the talent of the drummer/singer and the guitarist, the band did not sound that good most of the time.  The first song that they played sounded like shit because the bass player didn't tune his instrument.  In fact, after the song was over, the guitarist walked over to him and tuned his bass for him!

Wow.

After that, they played a cover of the song "Breed" by, you guessed it, Nirvana.  Actually, it sounded really good.  There wasn't a ton for the bass player to mess up so it sounded pretty awesome.  The drums were powerful.  The guitar solo was good.  I was pretty impressed actually.  They played a couple of originals that were okay.

But then...

They did a cover of "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath (of course). My God!  Lord have Mercy!  What shit.  It was like someone was spewing hot sauce in my ear and then using a paper clip to try and clean it off my ear drum.

The drums and guitar sounded good as usual, but of course, the bass player had no idea what the fuck he was doing.  It's like he was playing a completely different song.  It's a shame that one person can bring down the group so much like that.

I don't mean to pick on the bass player like this.  He's probably inexperienced and still learning about music. If he's new to music, it's not his fault.  A lot of times bands have trouble finding a good bass player.  It could have been the situation they were in.  I hope that their bass player develops much farther as not only a bass player, but a musician.  If he develops, they can be a really talented and fun group to watch.

After Runch vacated the premises, the bartender came and cleared the chairs for the featured band of the night. Another guy and I gave him a hand because, well, I needed something to get my mind off of that Iron Man cover.  Bet the Levels came out to have a good time and it truly was a good time.  Of course I'm going to have a bias towards the band though because I used to be in a band with the co-lead singer/co-lead guitarist.  In fact, when the band finished their final sound check, he pointed me out to everyone and then yelled, "SPARKLE SPARKLE SPARKLE!" which prompted me to return with a "FUCK YEAH!  SPARKLE SPARKLE SPARKLE!!!" Confused?  Yeah, I would be too.  You'll understand if you watch Nostalgia Critic's review of Thomas and the Magic Railroad which can be found here.

Anyways, Bet the Levels have a very late eighties/early nineties punk sound which is a sound that I enjoy quite a bit.  They played mostly originals except for the Weezer song "Say it Ain't So" and the last song.  Like I said, they give you a good time.  Their music makes you want to dance and get moving.  What I remember of their originals?  They had one that they called "I am Error":  a reference to Zelda II:  The Adventure of Link no doubt.  Their most memorable song is called "Converse Man."  It's not about a man who likes to talk to people; it's about someone who wears the style of shoes.  More specifically, it's about his own life and what it's like to be in his shoes (which happen to be Converse).  It's got a catchy riff and delivers what Bet The Levels do best.  It's not bad for a first single either.  They have a recording of it on Soundcloud.com which they actually recorded with Jet Lagg Records in Glendale Heights.  You can hear that here.

At the end of their high energy set list, they had time left for a couple more songs.  They played a basic instrumental which had no ending so they just kind of stopped playing it.  It actually had pretty good potential to be turned into a completed song so maybe in the future we will hear it in completed form.  They still had time for one more song after that so they decided to play "Undone (Sweater Song)":  another Weezer cover.  For this one, my friend got me up on the stage to converse (not the shoe brand) with him during the intro.  Little did I know, he wanted me to stay up there to sing with him but, instead, I did a pseudo stage dive (because there was no stage) by jumping over the stage monitor with my hands in the air in classic rock and roll gesture.

Overall, Bet the Levels have average drumming, average bass playing, above average guitar playing, and average singing (for punk anyways).  However, their energy is extraordinary.  They are a live band and they show it.  I had a lot of fun seeing them.  Sure, I got some special treatment so my opinion is going to be biased but, their show really wants to get you going.