Huskiepalooza

This is the profile picture for
Huskiepalooza on Facebook.  I
guess they didn't feel like making any kind
of banner or logo...

Huskiepalooza is a charity event that is held at Northern Illinois University annually (I think).  The event is actually pretty horrendously advertised as there are no banners, signs, or direction of any kind.  All I saw was a set list/schedule along with a location.  Then at the actual event, all that was set up was a stage with microphones, speaker wedges, and PAs.

I still am unclear of what the charity was and how I could have donated money to it.  There was no admission fee as I just kind of walked up to the stage and watched one of my favorite local bands play.

Bet the Levels

Bet the Levels were the first up.  They put on a good show but had one of the smallest audiences to date.  This is probably because most of their fan base lives a good distance away.  It was pretty weird because I was the only repeat Bet the Levels viewer (I think) that was there.  I brought a friend of mine with who recorded the show on one of the band member's camcorders.  I'm not sure when this footage will be uploaded onto the Bet the Levels YouTube channel or if it will even be uploaded at all.
Actually, you can catch a whole set of theirs on YouTube at Pub Yahoo (from back in the summer).  The link to their YouTube Channel is here.  I was at that show but did not write a review of it.  However, I got pulled up to sing along for their cover of Green Day's Brain Stew.  If you want to watch that particular video, you can watch it here.  However, I recommend watching their originals because that's what they're best at.  You'll get the idea despite the poor audio quality of the videos.

Speaking of audio quality, Huskiepalooza is the first show that Bet the Levels has had outdoors.  Well, Bet the Levels did have an acoustic set at a graduation party but that was a private affair.  Therefore, sadly, I was not there to witness it.  However, I suppose that this show was their first electric show outside of the reverby Pub Yahoo or Q-Sports Bar and Grill in Darien, Illinois.  Actually, Q-Sports Bar and Grill had pretty good acoustics.  Bet the Levels also put on a pretty great show and fed off of the energy of the regulars.  Unfortuantely, I did not do a review of that Back to School show either.

Probably the biggest issue with Bet the Levels at Huskiepalooza was that the guitars and bass were drowning out the drums.  This was never a problem in indoor venues because the drums echo all over the place.  Outdoors, the drums just carry.  With no amplification, the drums got somewhat lost.  The show was still very good and is about on par with their other shows.

Unfortunately, they tried doing a cover of The Who's "My Generation" which just sounded like a complete mess.  I don't think anyone truly knew what they were doing.  Upon asking Dan about it after the show, he said that they had only practiced it once before that.  Well, that explains it.

Overall, it was another good show. It's just a shame that they could not get more of their fan-base to show up and that the drums were getting drowned out.  The guy working the soundboard should have been more proactive about that.

A note about the sound guy:  I don't think he really knew what he was doing.  Which, sadly enough, is all too common.  I've been to concerts with professional bands and professional sound crews that were still pretty inept at their jobs.  In fact, probably one of the worst soundboard jobs I've ever heard was Minus the Bear at Riot Fest 2012.   The Bass was so loud that you could hardly hear anything else.  That's just inexcusable.  I don't know if they just really don't realize how bad it is or if they just don't care but, come on man!  

But yeah, the guy working the soundboard for Huskiepalooza was not quite with it.  I don't mean to pick on the guy.  He could have been a complete novice at it for all I know.

And now to get back on track...

Say it With Cookies

So, Say it With Cookies...interesting name.  I'm pretty sure the guy said that they were from Rockford.  I'm not positive about that.  Regardless, only one member from the whole band showed up.  I felt pretty bad for the guy, even though I was immediately prejudging based on his greased/gelled hair (not sure which), his fancyish scarf, and his flamboyant persona and voice.  Oh, and did I mention is clear complexion?

Despite all of my prejudices, I thought he was a pretty talented singer.  Without the rest of his band, he had resorted to doing an acoustic set.  He did some originals, he did a Two Door Cinema Club cover along with a "Sweater Weather" cover.  To my surprise, he did a "Teenagers" cover:  a song by My Chemical Romance.  It wasn't half bad.  He also did a cover of "Dammit" by blink-182... on the ukulele   Now that was pretty interesting.  Actually, I liked it a lot.  It was cool new flavor of a 90s punk classic.

Through the whole thing, his voice was very pure and refined.  He also sang generally high.  I actually thought that he could really pull off doing Dashboard Confessional covers.  But then again, I happen to like Dashboard Confessional quite a bit.

So, who's the flamboyant one now?

The Island Dwellers

The Island Dwellers are from Westmont..........if that means anything to anyone.  Anyways, The Island Dwellers were actually a pretty cool cover band with a couple of originals thrown in.

I hate to sidetrack again but I suppose now is when I mention that this stage is set up so that the bands have their backs right up against a residence hall.  For those of you that it means something to, this residence hall is Neptune North with the stage being set up on the lawn on the south side of the building.  Of course, the people in the residence halls are going to be able to hear the loud music literally right outside their windows.

Lucky us, we had Bet the Levels in attendance which includes the goofy Dan who insisted on waving at people whenever they decided to look out their windows to see what was going on.  It was a rather interesting location for a concert to say the least.

The Island Dwellers definitely stand out compared to other local bands.  The lead singer and guitar player of the band was so nerdy that he made  Rivers Cuomo from Weezer look like a freaking jock.  But I tell you what, that made it all the more awesome.  He was an average singer but a very passionate guitarist.  The band also has a thing going where they all wear superhero shirts every concert.  

They did covers of "Kids" by MGMT, "House of Gold" by Twenty One Pilots, "Creep" by Radiohead, and a couple of covers by the The Black Keys.  They covered "Gold on the Ceiling" and another one which I can't quite remember at the moment.

Probably most memorable was their cover of "Dammit" by blink-182.  Yes, that's right.  "Dammit" again!  This time we heard a rendition that had a reggae first verse that then cranked into top gear:  sounding like the original for the second and third verses along with the choruses.  For the last stretch of the song, someone in Bet the Levels shoved another member of Bet the Levels which then just kind of resulted in a mosh pit happening.  This is really weird considering that there weren't a ton of people.  But also, there was this one guy that just came out of nowhere and started moshing.  In this brief moment of time, he tore both his sweatshirt and his shirt off and threw them toward the stage.  Then, amongst all of that, his glasses got broken.  But never fear!  The pieces of the frames got found and the missing lens was found intact.  

But I must say, I don't think I've ever been so surprised in my life.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the last two bands, Love Party or Trident Deep, since I had to leave early.  I was actually somewhat disappointed because I know of the band Trident Deep but have not been able to see them yet.  I know of the band Trident Deep because I met the guitarist of the group Daniel Baker back before Trident Deep was really a live performance.  You see, Trident Deep actually started as Daniel Baker's solo project and later on he recruited other members for a live adaptation of his music.  The recordings I've heard a couple of years ago were pretty interesting.  You can definitely hear a post-rock influence as everything feels very enormous, like something very big is about to happen.  Unfortunately, I have not taken the time to look more into what Trident Deep has done lately.  Perhaps I will soon.

But anyways, thanks for reading.  Later...