Nathan Down at Tattoo Rock Parlour
Nathan Down at Tattoo Rock Parlour
October 16, 2008
Alright! I’ve been stalking Mikey S for a long time now. First time I saw him, he was in State of Worth, dancing in a chair after his set. Then he got picked up by Strap-On Tools. He played one show with Paul Burke. He found his way into Harlot. And after hooked up with Fuscia. Then next I hear, he’s playing with some dude called Nathan Down. (Are musicians allowed to be sluts?)
Anyways, the first time I went to see Nathan Down play, I was hoping for the full band, but due to alcoholic cut-backs and the last-minute-ness of the show (I believe they were added to the bill two or three hours before they were to hit the stage) no one had any gear, and Nathan went at it solo. And sober. So months later, this was my first time seeing Mikey on stage in a pretty long time actually, and I was really excited to see Nathan Down’s music with a full band, rather than just the one guy (topless guy, but still) on stage.
Definitely wasn’t disappointed, as with a full band Nathan Down is definitely full of energy. There was a big crowd, which was awesome to see, and since I don’t get out much, was quite surprising considering it was a Thursday night. But no one really seemed to care that it was a school night. Oh… those were the days…
Anyways, for some reason it didn’t occur to me that there would be a lot of people on the stage, since I’d never seen the full band before. And I was definitely not expecting it to be as packed as it was. But there they all were, drummer, bassist, guitarist, guitarist, guitar + vocalist. And it sounded great and not over-played at all.
The one thing about Nathan Down is I never really expect acoustic guitar and sort of… that hard-rock forceful type singing to really be on the same stage. And it surprises me every time I see him or listen to the myspace. But seeing the state of his guitar, and how hard he must play on it… you see he definitely rocks out on that thing.
Back to the show. It was fun. Whoever wasn’t flirting with the audience, the band was like… flirting with each other, or something. And I just love when a band interacts with each other, instead of ignoring each other like other bands that I’ve seen. Being in your zone and playing in your element is one thing, but having fun on stage and just being a bunch of guys, is totally another.
And it seems that the cover of “Pony” is really popular with all the ladies, since the build-up to it seemed endless, with as much girlish screaming as anyone could possibly expect from a crowd for an indie rock show. I don’t blame them. It’s a great rendition of the song. And I’m sure it’d get just about anyone into a frenzy.
I giggled a little inside when the sound guy put on the house music and turned up the lights after Pony, because everyone was expecting one more song. With the language only bands and sound-guys understand, the audience finally got their last song before the band packed up. And it was just as awesome as the other… I lost count, of songs.
Well, I don’t have a clue when Nathan Down is playing next, but definitely I’m going to try to get out to see it!
