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The Gutter’s
a great place to hang out
 | | New Start on stage @ the Gutter |
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In my ongoing quest to search out and promote the local music scene, I ended up at Pensacola’s Gutter Lounge to catch a live show on March 19. The musical lineup for the night included a myriad of top caliber bands. Some were local, and some were touring, but each of them offered a solid performance that was well worth the $7.00 cover charge.
Gutter Lounge is conveniently located inside Pensacola’s Liberty Lanes bowling alley, which is conveniently located on North Palafox Street. The idea of having a live music venue inside a bowling alley may seem like a dubious arrangement, but it worked out just fine.
The lounge itself is actually a walled-in area, such that if you went straight inside upon entering Liberty Lanes, you might not even realize that there was a bowling alley. The Gutter has recently been refurbished with new seating and fixtures, all of which were functional and clean, even the bathrooms. The bandstand is among the largest I’ve seen locally, and is spacious enough to keep the average four or five piece band happy. Dynamic, multi-colored lighting bathed the stage, enhancing the experience. The crowd was predominantly ages 17 and up, and never got out of hand with moshing or fighting. They were more interested in the music.
Opening at the Gutter was an act from Tallahassee called New Start. Singer Joshua Watson found himself in the middle of a solo act however, as his band mates never joined him. Watson did just fine by himself, confidently laying down a set of acoustic numbers. The music was reminiscent of artists such as Damien Rice, or even John Mayer. Solid, no-frills songwriting is what Joshua Watson brought, and I can only imagine that New Start would have sounded even better with the entire band present.
Next up was This Day and Age, a four-piece group from New York. The music sounded something like Dashboard Confessionals on steroids. Songs were catchy, with plenty of musical hooks, and the addition of a keyboard added another dimension to their sound. What impressed me was the band’s tightness. Though the music was more pop than punk, the rhythm section was synched up so well that their heavier riffs hit the crowd like a sledgehammer. I chalk it up to the playing experience of the members and the superior acoustics at Gutter Lounge.
Waking Ashland, a four piece outfit from Northridge, California, took the stage next. Their music is comparable to groups such as Story of the Year, but careful scrutiny of the lyrics reveals an undercurrent of spiritual hopefulness and a positive attitude. As with the rest of the lineup, the group’s performance was rock solid. Songs were catchy and well-orchestrated, and member Jonathan Jones even manned a keyboard for the more mellow material.
Closing for the night was a local Pensacola group known as Red Lipstick Letter. If the group Taking Back Sunday recruited the singer from Mudvayne, they might sound something like RLL. Though the group’s songs often began as melodic numbers, singer Austin McDonald had a penchant for shrieking into the microphone, a la “screamo” music. Whether or not you will enjoy RLL’s music depends heavily upon whether or not you like the aggro screaming bit. Personally, I did not. It seemed like the band was trying too hard to sound heavy, when their music really did not lend itself to screeching, incoherent vocals. However, the group succeeded in keeping stage presence alive, each of them milling around wildly and swinging their instruments like battle axes throughout the set.
In closing, the word which kept coming to me throughout the night at the Gutter was “impressive.” Just about all of the musicians had professional attitudes, and the proof was in their music. Additionally, nearly every band maintained a merchandise stand stocked with CD’s and t-shirts. In the case of Waking Ashland and This Day and Age, such wares were of the highest quality. Make no mistake, there was not a stereotypical “garage band” in the house. In fact, This Day and Age has a new album release that can be found at most local record stores.
To stay further up to date on who is playing where, I suggest visiting the message board at www.gulfcoastmusicscene.com.
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