Sometimes, i think that it must suck to be a musician. Here you are, doing your best, playing your heart out, and doing what you really love, and sometimes it must seem as if no one cares.

Take this show for instance. Fire Show are a band from Chicago, IL which consists of two former members of the now defuct Chicago indie pop band Number One Cup. No. One Cup achieved a modicum of notoriety, and you would think that would carry over to the new band. At the very least, you would think that fans would be curious to see the new incarnation.

And yet, Fire Show played the Eyedrum to a crowd consisting of:

1. 5 Eyedrum employees
2. 5 members of local opening act Space Crime Quintet
3. a few assorted girlfriends of Space Crime Quintet
4. some guy from Chicago (probably a No. One Cup fan) in a Bears cap
5. PostLibyan and Tracers
6. a few assorted others

All told, there were about 20 people there. A few other random fans, but really the Eyedrum was empty.

Which is a tragedy because Fire Show rocked! Despite the emptiness of the venue, they played their hearts out, running through their new album as if to a packed crowd who would make or break them.

I really respect that. I think that some bands might get a little discouraged, but Fire Show carried on nobly. And i think that everyone there really enjoyed their performance. Tracers and i certainly did!

And, as i said, they rocked! Fire Show are an angular, noisy punk band. They have intense distortion and fuzz a la Sonic Youth, but they used it within the framework of their songs and not as "just noise" like some bands seem to do. Heck, even Tracers wasn't put off by it, which says something for their general songwriting skill!

Another thing that i noticed about Fire Show -- they have a powerful rhythm section! The thumping bass and thudding drums really carried the tunes along in a way that was reminiscent of the D.C. hardcore scene (i am thinking, specifically, of early Fugazi here). This great rhythm was layered behind guitars that were at times feedbacky and distorted, and at other times wailed in a trebly way that reminded me of Klaus Flouride on the first few Dead Kennedy's albums!

This hard punk music was not what i was expecting! No. One Cup were more of a pop band, but as Fire Show, these boys play loud, fast, and hard! Fire Show is the unholy fusion of Sonic Youth plus Fugazi plus Dead Kennedys. Not what i was expecting at all, but very welcome. I just don't see enough loud punk bands anymore....

The opening band was quite interesting too! Space Crime Quintet are another of the newer local bands in Atlanta, and it seems as if Atlanta has gotten a sort of shoegazer/space-rock band. (Woo-hoo -- i heart shoegazer/space-rock!)

Space Crime Quintet started with a pretty good rock song, and then by their second number had created a brilliant wall of guitar noise that just washed over the empty Eyedrum. They had some really nice guitar textures, specifically on the second song that they played. The rest of their numbers were good solid Atlanta rock scene tunes: loud guitars played with a little too much tremolo, giving them a distorted "southern" feel. There was a little more general distortion and noise than, say, The Rock*A*Teens, but still i think it fits within the general rock scene of Atlanta.

I also think that their last number was noteworthy -- it was a silly little song about seeing a flying saucer that had whirling guitars and an infectious little vocal bit repeated over and over. Quite fun!

So i had a great time at this show. I don't know why more people weren't there. Maybe because it was a Monday. Maybe because it was during The Holiday Season. Maybe because it was not that well advertised. And maybe it was because the threat of snow (which terrifies us southerners) was thick in the air. I dunno, but people missed out on a great show!

My recommendation -- see Fire Show when they come to your town. Go there and just expect to bop along with the noise! And i look forward to seeing Space Crime Quintet again here in Atlanta.

Speaking of which, Fire Show mentioned that they will be back in Atlanta in a few months, and i am already looking forward to it!