It’s a different atmosphere at People’s Bar and Grill when you walk in on a Tuesday night. The regulars show up either way, but for tonight’s local showcase, there are as many long-haired metalheads as there are Old Navy fleeces. The band is tuning up on stage as Josh Jacobsen spins the wingnuts onto his cymbals.

Jacobsen plays drums for Mechanistry, and he is somewhat nervous that no one other than the band’s new guitarist, Axel Aguado – who sits with friends at a table by the stage – has shown up for their own show with the industrial-tinged Seven Point Six Two and the new band on the scene, Only.

Nonetheless, Jacobsen seems happy surrounded by the puzzle of stands and drums he works to put together, and he is definitely happy he found a band he works well with.

“I had been playing with other bands and just finding no luck with any of them. They just did not work with me,” he says. “I saw these guys, and I saw they listed Dream Theater as an influence and some progressive rock bands – really good bands. It’d be tough to be able to play that kind of music, so I figured, `Well, I’ll try them out.'”

Alongside songwriter and guitarist Philip Lombardo and bassist Ronald Sidharta, Jacobsen fit well in the technical metal band. The three pasted the town with “Musicians Wanted” fliers and searched for the name to rally under.

“Part of the band is Christian, so we have Christian lyrics in our music and we wanted to incorporate that in the name, similar to `ministry,'” Jacobsen says, as he grins at singer Mukit Alam and Sidharta, who walk by carrying a bass cabinet. “Looking into the band as a whole, we decided each person forms a mechanical device, then together we all work in that sense more mechanical.”

Mechanistry.

“It’s that simple.”

Mechanistry went through a singer before Alam, but ousting him wasn’t a hard decision.

“That didn’t work out because of problems with stealing and stuff like that . from us – money. So we got rid of him,” Jacobsen says.

There was another guitarist, as well, but he didn’t keep up with the mentality of the metal group. His trip with the band ended as this school year began.

But here they all are. The tall, thin Lombardo has just stepped through the door to volleys of “‘Bout time!”

He is pleased with crowd showing – about 50 people. This is partly because a metal band in Ames doesn’t get the chance to play for many good crowds these days.

“Some of the turnouts are really low,” Lombardo says. “We played one show at The View [in Des Moines] that had six people.”

“I really think the metal scene is dead in, you know, most places, especially a place that is already bad enough for local music,” Sidharta says.

It’s not just a hard place to make it for metal, he says, but the bar atmosphere of most of the venues makes it hard for other types of music to draw a crowd as well.

“For some kind of music it’s great, plus you get your friends to see it. But basically for metal it’s really bad. Emo doesn’t even get that good of a reception up here,” he says. “Do you know Pomeroy? Pomeroy always gets this place packed. It’s maybe basically a bar scene.”

So it looks as if the expectations for tonight are playing for friends of the three bands and a few metal fans. Even that takes practice for a progressive metal act.

“It’s not as often as I’d like, man,” Aguado says. “It’s pretty much just before shows – I practice every day. I think we are all the kind of musicians where we have to practice or we’ll go nuts. But as far as practicing as a band together, I’d like to do it once a week but we can’t really do it what with school and all.”

For Lombardo, the practicing is important enough to be a job, as he teaches guitar at Keepers Music, 134 Dotson Dr. Being on stage is a little more fun, though.

“I like the, `Get your name out there, this is what you do – you’re a musician,’ ” he says.

As Lombardo prepares to meet up with the rest of Mechanistry, he shows he’s not afraid to get his name out with something new.

“I’m going to rap tonight,” Lombardo says.

It’s a bit of a change in the conversation, but it’s no joke.

“I couldn’t talk anyone else into doing it, so I’m going to do it.”