Photo credit: Tiera D. Photo

Nippy temperatures (and a pile of laundry at home) nearly kept me from venturing out to a marathon of rock goodness at the always fun Brothers Drake Meadery. My conscience and the lure of several groups I knew to be good coaxed me off the couch and into the cold for a few hours of head banging, mead drinking, and attempts to keep friends coherent enough in their alcohol haze to enjoy the duration of the evening (not gonna name names!).

Clay Otter kicked things with their second show in two weeks. Actually, this was their second show altogether. The band was noisy, grungy and adept beyond what their live inexperience might imply. I kept hearing influences from other tunes in their set. One song’s intro sounded kind of like the beginning of Incubus’ “Wish You Were Here.” No problemo, though. Everyone dug it and I’m pumped to see this band grow.

Turtle Island followed up with the most jam packed stage of the evening. This band is truly versatile, and I can’t wait for them to hit the road and pick up more fans. They opened their set with an instrumental number that felt like warm bathwater. They followed up with a mixture of psychedelic jams and good old rock numbers, with Dallin Stevenson and Sean Gleeson alternating positions as vocalists. This was also the first time I saw a sample pad onstage (someone feel free to enlighten my vocabulary on this).

The Vessels don’t put off a vibe of having particularly huge aspirations but what they do they do well. If I were to give a band an award just for being suave I think I’d hand it to these guys. Frontman Jason Couto knew how to be a good showman without going over the top. I don’t think he, or the other dudes in The Vessels were thinking too hard about their performance, though. They were just jamming out and having a good time. And sometimes that’s all you need. I think that vibe carried over to the crowd.

Domes is a group Tuned Up has been familiar with for some time. Ben Ahlteen has played roles in a myriad of other projects around town – Chitteden Hotel, Burlap For Bear, and The Lost Revival for instance. Drummer Chris Cheeseman, the dude with a personality so huge he has to remove his shirt just to make himself even more memorable, also has a history with The Lost Revival, where I first witnessed this phenomenon. Not to be held back by unrealistic expectations derived from past antics, Cheeseman drunkenly (?) called out halfway through the set “Who doesn’t have a date with them tonight?” and then passed out “gifts”, which turned out to be porn DVDs the band found in a dumpster. They said “You’re welcome/we’re sorry” for that antic later. Appropriate. Back to the music though – they killed it. Familiar set ender “You Can’t Hear Me” gave me a nice warm and fuzzy feeling (although that might have been the mead).

Gelatinus Cube, a polarizing band (who would take that descriptor as a compliment) took the stage after, and also killed it. The set primarily consisted of cuts from last year’s release The New Corn and this year’s to be released record titled 24HourRockandRoll. I don’t know if there are supposed to be spaces between those words, but I kind of hope there aren’t – it would fit the band’s character. The wails from the stage that night were oddly pleasant – but then again, most of what the ol’ G-Cube does can be described that way. The new jams were catchier than normal, and I look forward to seeing them in their final form (cue Dragonball Z references).

The Worn Flints gave what was probably the single most badass performance of the evening. Kenny Stiegle needs to be on the main stage of a festival. Now. Yesterday. Five years ago! If nothing else, his enthusiasm is infectious. Never mind the fact that this trio has a huge sound and has a way of extending their improvisational jams such that they are neither repetitious nor boring. Of course, one man can’t carry a band – due credit MUST be given to bassist Steve Trabulsi and drummer Jacob Smith for holding down the rhythm section. Brian Palmiero of the band INCORPORATED leaned over toward me at one point and stated emphatically, “Jake is a badass drummer.” Well bro, you didn’t need to tell me – that is self evident! I definitely agree though.

It was at about this point that I ran out of steam and headed home. But this was a great rock marathon of sorts!