Mario Perotti --
August 26, 2002
San Francisco, Calif. -- This past weekend, August 22nd - 25th, the huge Bay Area wide event known as Nadine's Wild Weekend stormed through the clubs as a whole host of bands, shows, people and entertainment hit the stage, bringing the best and brightest of the Northern California musical talent together in a giant festival setting. Kicking off the weekend on Thursday at the world famous Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, CA, industry people and music fans alike gathered to watch three bands hit the stage to kick the entire weekend into motion. Among the acts on the Fillmore stage was the popular light rocking act Luce who finished off the celebration commencement.
Through the past few years this event has taken place, there had been a sprinkling of heavy bands in a few pocket shows during the Wild Weekend. However, this year, after the weekend's Executive Producer, Nadine Condon, recognized the wealth of heavy talent here in Northern California, tapped into the scene and, in connection with this very site, pulled together a successful showing at the Pound in San Francisco on Saturday, August 24th, 2002.
Scorched-Earth Policy live during the Wild Weekend show at the Pound in San Francisco, CA. |
Featuring seven talented bands from all over the Bay Area and Sacramento, the set included the Gilroy-based Rivals, Sacramento-based Shortie, San Jose-based Krenshaw, San Jose-based Ones and Zeros, SF / Peninsula-based Drist, and East Bay natives Scorched-Earth Policy and Technocracy.
Along with each band who hit the stage throughout the night, the club itself was adorned with sponsor banners who helped make this event possible including The SF Weekly, Tower Records, BMI, and, of course, several Powerslave.com banners. It was each of these organizations who helped to create this sizable show and make for the celebration of music that Condon continually envisions year after year.
The show opened at promptly 8:30 PM with the South Bay act Rivals and wrapped at just past 1:30 AM with the Technocracy machine plowing through their heavy accessible sound, book ending a long but very entertaining night. The on hand crowd remained strong for most of the night, never losing an ounce of the vibe within the club as this show made its way through the set list.
At one point during the evening, Nadine, herself, made a brief appearance at the show, hopping on stage to give a few words. Condon and her entourage ordered up a limousine which chauffeured them around the Bay Area on Friday and Saturday night to catch a glimpse of as many of the shows included in the Wild Weekend. Condon hit the Pound during the Ones and Zeros set and swept through like a pumped tornado, showing her support for this first heavy show at the Wild Weekend and bringing her own excitement to the already cool vibed show.
Aside from the sponsors, Condon's rush through the club and the diverse crowd on hand, the bands were obviously the central focus for this particular showing. Each of the acts lined up came off well, never really losing the crowd or slowing the show down, giving a well drawn overall performance. Some of the highlights from the show included:
Rivals opened the night to a still arriving crowd and pumped through their melodic meets hardcore sound well, allowing their lunatic front man Matt Reed to move this show from the opening note to amped excitement quickly. After a solid set, the band finished with a violent, guitar smashing, emotional finish that was both entertaining and frighteningly real at the same time.
Shortie followed up with the second slot as the band continues to play out on the scene in support of their latest recording "Worthless Smiles". With their relatively new line-up now starting to gel together, Shortie sounded exceptionally crisp for the night, even coming across with an extra bite and crunch in certain spots.
Krenshaw live during the Wild Weekend show at the Pound in San Francisco, CA. |
Krenshaw, who chartered a bus and filled it with fifty of their fans, stormed the stage for the third slot and came of extremely well, punching through a short set of their heavy, sludged out, pump and grind metal style. With bassist Jimmeh back in the fold now, these guys are steamrolling towards a brand new disc entitled "Doublewide" set to be released later this year. Krenshaw were easily one of the top acts for the show with their heavy stage sound and excited audience.
Ones and Zeros brought their melody meets accessibly heavy sound to the Pound stage for the midway point of the show and, along with pulling together a solid set, had the extra excitement of Nadine storming the stage during their set to say a few words. With their latest disc on the streets, entitled "Protocol", Ones and Zeros continue to pump out a solid live show. OAZ was also on the bill back in May for the Wild Night show at The Usual which started to hype for the Wild Weekend.
Drist hit the stage following OAZ and despite a broken string that delayed their set after their first song, come off well, highlighting a lot of their latest material as the band moves further into the melody heavy style, accenting vocalist Tyson Yen's vocal work. Drist always has that mass appeal surrounding the band, so they often have a strong stage showing. Drist has some strong momentum these days and are continually gaining popularity through the NorCal scene.
Scorched-Earth Policy stepped in for the sixth slot of the night and started the home stretch towards the end of show with an incredibly loud and amped showing as the band performed a slew of tunes including those appearing on their forthcoming brand new recording. After the initial songs, vocalist Richard Perot stripped out of his white suit and performed the remainder of the time in just a woman's slip and a lunatic make-up job. It was certainly an odd addition to the powerful Scorched-Earth sound as this band, especially as of late, has been rolling well with a lot of momentum.
Finally, late into the night, the popular East Bay act Technocracy, which features Vio-lence / sometimes Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel in tow, pounded through a rather impressive set, opening up some new tunes to complement the songs off their currently available self titled debut release. Before their encore appearance, the band also pumped through the Black Sabbath tune "Children of the Grave", rounding out their heavy set well and topping the full, Wild Weekend night.
As Monday August 26th, 2002 settles in and people go back to their normal lives, the 2002 version of Nadine's Wild Weekend is but a fresh memory as the over 100 bands in all the clubs across the Bay Area have finished out the long eventful weekend. For the show at the Pound on August 24th, 2002, the show came off well, bringing some of the popular heavy talent to the Wild Weekend showcase and opening up another avenue in the NorCal Underground Metal Scene.
Who knows what Nadine's Wild Weekend 2003 will hold, but 2002 was a good one for sure.
Many more pictures from this event are (will be) in the Pic Gallery.
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