Forward Russia @ The Troubadour

“Seriously, what is everybody thinking?”

Within a half filled Troubadour, this whisper of a scream shimmied along my shoulder, funneled into my ear through my haphazardly placed tissue (a poor excuse for hearing protection). The question, aimed at the non-existent, made me lookout over the outer reefs circling my small island of fandom. They were small reefs and I was a small island, but Forward Russia was a massive volcano erupting lava, which gave the bird to everyone as it decented through the crowd - a group of faithful, blog buzzing, hyperbole drenched fans.

“They are the resurrection of At the Drive-In!”

“Its basically what it would sound like if the Blood Brothers made ballads.”

Yada, yada, yada. Even though the Troubadour was only half full, we are still looking at it as such; there wasn't a half empty bottle of anything at the Troubadour this past Saturday. Whiskas’ riffs were as achingly harsh as they are on the album. Tom was his usual spastic, sweaty, Ritalin reduced temper tantrum. With her tiny voice and heavy hand, drummer Katie Nicholls was as cute as Pebbles Flintstone before she unleashes her whack-smack-mallet-attack on an unsuspecting Jurassic herbivore (What? You guys must not of seen the Director’s cut).

I smiled, I sang, I shimmied, I swayed, and at times...I even waited. For what may you ask? For the band to catch a breath, and with those inward gasps refocus their sites on killing the crowd with their next tune. The only problem with these pit stops along the way, was their ultimate lack of seamlessness. The songs were tight, but their “breathers” reminded us that the band is still young on the road, and have yet to reach the point where art becomes life and the seams between the two are sown tightly together. But is that asking too much? I really can't say, and I don't know if Forward Russia can either. Basically, the band has an opportunity to ask themselves what they want their audience to receive from their live shows: a set boiled and brewed through and through or a twelve course meal with burps and belches between song and dance?

But maybe all that was needed was a few more kids in the crowd, which goes back to the first question, "what was everybody thinking?"

[mp3] Forward Russia - Twelve