Live Review: National Product, 1997, The Break Up, Kyoko and Sederra
By Brian Spiegel
1997 rocks out on stage.
It’s amazing what you can decide in 30 seconds. In fact, if you think about it many of your important life decisions are made in about 30 seconds. You can decide whether or not to hit on that girl who you swear is looking at you from across the room (she’s not, by the way, you are just standing in front of those “eye focusing” posters). You can decide whether or not to see a movie from the preview alone (f-ing “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”). Or you can decide whether or not to give a band your full attention when they find their way onstage at a rock show.
The truth is with our ADD, 24 hour news channel minds we don’t have that long of an attention span anymore. This gives bands, especially bands you are seeing for the first time, only a few precious moments to win you over. If you’re on stage with an instrument in hand, you better get a good riff out there, or exude one hell of a stage presence within the first few chords of your stage time or chances are you going to lose the crowd for good.
But when a band is able to grab you: wow. Within the first 30-seconds of 1997′s opening set for headliners National Product Saturday night at Chain Reaction in Anaheim the band had me hook, line and sinker. The bands mixture of complex riffs, heavy stage presence and beautiful keyboard parts transfixed me immediately in a way I haven’t felt since seeing the Stiletto Formal at the same venue in 2006.
The bands thirty minute was like a blast furnace of intensity mixed with such a inherentbeauty that kept the music grounded. The hour men on stage (two guitarists, drums and bass) played like chaos was running through their veins. Guitarist/ singer had the mad eye of Tom Gabel from Against Me! as he whiskedthrough his lyrics while rigidly strumming his guitar. The other three thrashed onstage like they had just encountered a swarm of Africanized bees. On the complete opposite spectrum, though was their female keyboardist/ singer/ xylophonist, who standing on the opposite side of the stage, exuded calm and poise like a flower swaying softly in the eye of an hurricane. Her voice was planted so masterfully in the songs that her voice came off like a haunting siren singing from the storm. The band utilized instruments such as tambourines, harmonicas and even the previously mentioned xylophone to craft a sound that makes them one of the most intriguing bands i’ve seen in quite a while.
The Break Up on stage.
While the complexity of 1997 was bracing, fellow openers The Break Up were impressive in a whole ‘nother way. Finally, a band who is not afraid to embrace pop sound into their music and not try to discount or mask it. The Break Up, a five piece from Orange County, is a fun, fresh, female fronted band who is not afraid to unapologenically use keyboards to craft a pop-rock sound that is as fresh and enjoyable as your favorite guilty pleasure.
The Break Up puts their hands in the air.
And guilty pleasure is not meant in a bad way. The band is tight and polished mixed with their lead singer playing the part of a fun, loose band leader who is there to make the crowd happy as she played both ring leader and talented lead singer who possessed some very impressive pipes. Overall, the band seemed to hearken back to the 80′s where bands actually enjoyed themselves onstage and the big smiles on stage didn’t seem to be an act. Full hand claps, everyone singing (mic or not) on stage and impromptu mosh pits in front of the stage were just part of the fun. What really made the band stand out is the bands use of keyboards not as purely a background instrument, but as a means of giving the overall sound a poppy, light sound that works just as well with a punk crowd as it would opening up for Kelly Clarkson at the Greek. With great songs and a wonderful song structure, The Break Up might just be your new favorite guilty pleasure.
In headlining a show opened by the liked of The Break Up and 1997 (as well as Kyoko and Sederra who each turned in good performances), National Product ran the risk of getting blown off stage before they played their first note. Lucky the crowd was with them as they rushed towards the stage to great the five piece as they blistered through their first song. WIthout throwing too much buzz words your way, National Product has a “screamy” poppy hardcore sound (fine, too many words, so kill me) that was enjoyable if not a tad bit generic. But the band was solid and when the guitars placed their guitar heads far into the air as they were about to hit their notes like they were trying gain power mode in Guitar Hero, you couldn’t help but enjoy yourself.
Photos by Yolanda Perez
