by Ruth Milne

Area bands rallied against hunger at the fourth annual Hardcore for Hunger benefit concert Saturday at the Imperial.

It’s still been less than a year since local hardcore band Just Another Pretty Face’s first show, and they have come a long, long way since that fiery debut. The most recent change is their new guitarist, Craig, at left.

At first I thought they had a new bassist too, but it turns out he just got a haircut. Either that or the new bassist has the same tattoos as the old. I’m thinking a haircut is more likely.

The show’s called “Hardcore for Hunger,” but traditionally, all the bands play metal. “Sorry we’re not metal enough,” Just Another Pretty Face jokingly titled one song.

Sure, they aren’t “metal” through-and-through, but Just Another Pretty Face isn’t trying to be — they’re hardcore. And they’re good hardcore. And more than that, they’re good hardcore by good guys; they started off the set by talking about how the concert was for a great cause, and whatever subgenre you wanted to identify yourself with — metal, hardcore, emo, country, etc. — we’re all part of the Rapid City scene.

It’s nice to see kids talking about community; we need more of that around here.

A final note: Just Another Pretty Face is loud. Standing near the speakers to take this photo, the hair on my arms was vibrating, and I’m no monkey.

As usual, this band’s final song was “Convicted Without Evidence,” about the West Memphis Three, a cause they feel very passionately about.

Black as Sin, whose MySpace link can be read more than one way, was up next.

A metal band from Rapid City, Black as Sin was plagued by technical difficulties. This is not an instance of that; he was just kneeling on the dance floor while he played.

The guitarist’s tummy says Leetch, which was the opening band, which I missed. Not sure what his boob art says, though.

Emissary, the group I’d really come to see, was up next.

This New Underwood-based thrash band is fantastic, and just getting better.

Since the last time I saw them, Emissary added a second guitarist, who did a fine job of keeping up with the band’s Slayer-style speed. If you want your metal old-school and stripped-down, with blazing guitars and ear-shredding vocals, this is your band.

The crowd was thin, but there was some serious head banging.

Right in the front row, this cherubic little kid was trying out his metal moves for the very first time.

This adorable little gal also loved Emissary.

At this point, it was 10:30 p.m., and with five or six bands yet to play, I was out of there. I did want to see Disorderly, but at the rate the members were downing booze, it wasn’t going to be good… I might as well play their demo CD and watch a train wreck on TV.

I heard that it was going to be Synthetic Discipline’s last show, so I hope that went well.

Best of all, organizers collected a couple tubs of canned goods for the food bank.

by Ruth Milne

It’s hot, but many locals braved the extreme temps this weekend to attend the Festival of Presidents downtown and the Heritage Festival in Memorial Park.

The schedule of performers at the Festival of Presidents didn’t look a bit appealing, so instead I spent time at the Heritage Festival, where yesterday I caught a memorable performance by Oakhurst, a cool bluegrass band from Denver.

They were billed as bluegrass fused with indie rock, but they started out all bluegrass.

Oakhurst played mostly originals, as well as a cover of (of course) the classic “Fire on the Mountain.” The music was great and the crowd loved it: Little kids danced around, toddlers rocked out, and in an unexpected turn of events, a couple young men actually did some breakdancing. It was fantastic.

Toward the end, the guy on upright bass switched to an electric guitar, and their sound got less traditional and more … well … bad, as they performed some classic rock covers. I guess that’s what they meant by the indie rock fusion?

Still, it was all good fun, and the banjo-picking and mandolin-playing were top-notch.

Festivities and funnel cake at the park continue through this evening, with the Flares of Freedom fireworks at 10 p.m. A complete schedule of events can be seen here.

by Ruth Milne

Elvis came alive last weekend at the civic center — for some people, anyway. The Journal’s own Jomay Steen wrote about the results in today’s paper.

Despite the best intentions, I didn’t attend after all, although I heard somebody singing “In the Ghetto” quite enthusiastically when I stopped by the civic center Saturday afternoon to pick up a ticket to see Willie Nelson next month.

Let’s just say, it didn’t sound like I was missing much.

I’ve always preferred Nick Cave’s overly theatrical, sequined and swaying interpretation of that classic Elvis number, probably because there are no wailing backup singers in the remake… although I have yet to hear Cave’s version without my brain automatically chiming “In the ghett-ooooo!” after every line of the chorus. Maybe someday.

(That above-linked video, by the way, is hilarious. Cave doesn’t even bother to lip-sync properly. He looks a little lost, a little bedraggled, a little bedruggled… It was the ’80s, after all.)

Then, of course, there’s Cartman’s version, for you South Park fans.

Tonight: Lindsey Buckingham. Nothing like Elvis.

Other upcoming events that have nothing to do with Elvis include the free Municipal Band concert at 8 p.m. this Wednesday (and every Wednesday through July) at Memorial Park.

And don’t forget about Creosote at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Imperial Inn, with American Heavy Metal Weekend, Oh Yeah! and the reunion of Disorderly. Admission is $6 all ages.

by Ruth Milne

Noise Noise Noise headlined a show last Friday at TREA. The flyer was rather racy; it featured a pinup-type nude with her more controversial body parts ostensibly censored, but at least one X was smaller than what it was supposed to cover.

No, I’m not posting a link to the flyer.

The audience was so small that sometimes it just seemed like the bands were playing for the other bands. Still, none of the acts held back; they went all-out and played fiery, enthusiastic sets.

All five bands — Old, the Budgets, Bust, the Reddmen and Noise Noise Noise — played the same genre of fast, fun rock ‘n’ roll. (Disappointingly, Sonic Future was a no-show.)

The first band up was simply called Old. I’m guessing it’s because several of the members have been in the Rapid City scene for… well, many years. Teenagers probably would call them old.

Frontman Patrick Fleming.

Their music, however, was anything but old, and definitely not stale. (more…)

By Ruth Milne

Last night’s show at TREA was being put on by a guy who usually books hardcore shows; the bands were billed as mostly variants of hardcore. I’ve been to hardcore shows, and they can sometimes feel pretty standard.

So I thought I knew what I was getting into.

Boy, was I wrong.

I arrived after the show had begun, but in time to see Kingston Falls, heavy two-guitar hardcore from Illinois.

Even though they were only the second act, Kingston Falls thanked people for sticking around: “Usually people have walked out by now.” They rocked pretty hard, and I didn’t see anyone walking out.

Gym shorts are popular with both hardcore fans and hardcore bands – and honestly, as hot as the room gets, it makes more sense than black jeans.

The next band up was Nux Vomica from Portland, Ore. You look at this guy, you can guess what style of music he plays, right?

Wrong. (more…)