Upon suggestion by a friend, the three of us ventured towards the rear of the venue, where the bands’ vans were parked. I noticed only one guy rearranging merch in the back of the van. He turned out to be the roadie for P.O.S. and was nice enough to make Peter of Minus the Bear aware of my situation. Without a moment passing, Peter, front man for Minus the Bear had apologized for the confusion and had their tour manager arrange for all three of us to get in. For this I want to publicly thank those parties involved in straightening out this issue. Things like this happen, it’s just the way it goes, and I’m glad there are still genuinely good people out there.

We finally entered the Studio, which is the smaller portion of Warehouse Live, just in time to see P.O.S. take the stage. They were surely a welcomed breath of fresh air after missing the two opening acts, waiting for assistance outside. Underground hip-hop composed of P.O.S (aka Stefon Alexander) a founding member of Doomtree and DJ Turbo Nemesis. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one not expecting to see what we did. His lyrical styling and overall stage presence was phenomenal; from screaming out his words even after the beat had stopped to poetically singing hooks. He wasn’t there to talk about being hard, or his cars, or his money, his lyrics were intertwined with a strong political message.

I have to hand it to him for getting up there and doing his thing on a tour, in front of kids that wouldn’t normally be exposed to hip-hop of this calibur. Sure there were a handful of people that attended simply for P.O.S. and were screaming the ryhmes with the group, but the majority, myself included, wasn’t familiar with the group, however I am sure glad that I am now. He is a great lyrcist and just an old punk rock kid. He wore a studded belt, had a nice sleeve, and even adorned a Some Girls shirt. His tour manager was nice enough to give me a copy of their latest release Audition to check out. It has been in the player all day and I already can’t get enough. He even talks about cameras!

Minus the Bear closed the show down. The management of Warehouse Live will probably be shocked when they receive their next electric bill, since the guys in Minus the Bear use about 15 pedals a piece, each drawing from its own power source. Even the bassist had his own homemade board with an assortment of effects pedals. These guys are excellent live. Im sure I speak for more than just myself when I say that I am still boogled on how these guys can play with such vigor for a long set and stay on track with their intricate musicianship. Each instrument is doing something, all the time. This isnt your regular four-chord wonder band. The band was also nice enough to set one song aside for each of the 3 opening bands to accompany them on-stage with background percussion or vocals. This allows the smaller bands, to share the headlining limelight, so to speak.

You know whenever I hear a punk/indie band that is boring me with the same beat/melody repeatedly, I always say, “someone needs to give these guys a rap cd.” These guys sound like they have that cd, whatever cd that may be. The only 5 goofy-looking white guys that can produce beats that make everyone get down…even the security. – Todd Spoth (www.toddspoth.com)