Our thoughts: The Alehouse (Portland ME)

April 21, 2005

w/Hushed & Paynestaken

Even though I’ve been there plenty of times, until last night I had never actually played at the Alehouse, so from a performer’s standpoint I didn’t quite know what to expect, the joint being so small and all. I must say that once we set up and were ready to go, that stage felt really comfortable and inviting. I guess it showed in our playing, as our set went down awesome. Sound was great and we were totally relaxed. Hushed started the night with their stunningly gorgeous dreams of death, and Paynestaken closed it out with straight-ahead modern metal. Other than that some patterns are definitely emerging: Once again the crowd got noticeably larger in the time it took us to set up (and most of them were faces we didn’t recognize.) Once again “Lovely Lies” got a huge reaction. In the middle of the song there’s a quirky breakdown into a new time signature, and in the pause between riffs I heard some guy exclaim “Whoa!”. I guess that part really got him!