A couple weeks ago I ventured to People’s (which I believe is hands down the best venue for live music in Ames and maybe central Iowa, but is drastically misused and has the one of the worst regular crowds around) for the new rock deal they do on Tuesday nights. I went to see Seven Point Six Two but was pleasantly surprised by the two opening bands.

The first was a new band to the central Iowa scene called Only. I think it is very similar to a band out of Minneapolis, Align. Thoughts of Pantera are also conjured up. Only is definitely a breath of fresh air to the hard rock/metal scene. You can check it out at www.theonlyband.com and listen to some tracks from the band’s demo.

The second band was one I had heard of many times but hadn’t actually seen or heard before — Mechanistry. Some people are going to find this band corny because it doesn’t sound like much of anything that is out there today. I, on the other hand, say right on. If you are a fan of old-school Megadeth and Metallica or any of the other thrash/speed-type metal bands that dominated the late ’80s and early ’90s, you will love these guys. Tons of guitar solos (guitarist Philip Lombardo is amazing) and fast-and-furious metal.

I talked to Philip after his set and he told me it has been really hard to gain much attention in Ames because of the lack of support for metal. I know there are some metalheads at Iowa State and there are some good bands around here, so get to a show!

You can see Mechanistry along with a slew of other local bands Sunday at Togetherfest III. It is an all-ages show and lasts from the early afternoon until midnight. This would be a great chance to show People’s that local bands can draw a crowd.

Coffeehouse Productions

A group out of Des Moines called Coffeehouse Productions is starting to bring some really good shows to Des Moines. I made the trip Friday for the House of Large Sizes, Why Make Clocks and Slopsycle show and was treated to one of the best shows I have ever seen. If you haven’t seen Des Moines’ Slopsycle, do it just to witness guitarist Jake Berhow — one of the best blues/rock guitarists you’ll see at the local level. Why Make Clocks bassist Boonie Boone told me afterwards he was disappointed with the band’s set, but I thought it sounded great. The mellow, almost depressing nature of its music wasn’t a great fit between the likes of Slopsycle and HOLS, but nonetheless Why Make Clocks was impressive.

House of Large Sizes was simply amazing. It was my third time seeing the Cedar Falls natives and the band was at its best. The crowd went crazy as the band played a set mostly of songs from the new self-titled record and “Glass Cockpit,” but threw in some oldies as well.

Coffeehouse is bringing in lots of national award-winning acts to a few different venues. The HOLS show was at the Hotel Fort Des Moines Grand Ballroom — a really cool place to see a show. Check out the Web site, www.coffeehouseproductions.com, to see what is going on.

Local News

I have just a few interesting bits of local music news for you. First off, Loud n’ Local — a series of shows for local bands promoted by Lazer 103.3 — will be returning. This year it will be held on Fridays at Hairy Marys in Des Moines. These shows usually are able to pull in good crowds and are a good chance for local bands to showcase their talents. A couple years back the finals for the Local Licks battle of the bands drew more than 1,000 people! If your band is interested in playing, check out the Local Licks Web site at www.geocities.com/locallicks.

Des Moines band Devil With Cheese will finally be playing in Ames this weekend. If you were familiar with godkillgod, DWC is kind of a godkillgod part 2, featuring many of the same members. It will be playing Saturday at The Break along with Seven Point Six Two. For those of you who don’t know where the Break is, it is located at 115 East Main and holds live music twice a month. The place doesn’t have a stage, but otherwise is an OK place to see some live music.

That’s my wisdom on local music. If you have any local news for me or a band I should check out, feel free to drop me an e-mail at [email protected].

Support local music.

Trevor Fisher

is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Knoxville. He is the arts and entertainment senior reporter for the Daily.