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H2O, Bigwig, Amazing Transparent Man, Mest
The Quest, Minneapolis, MN
1/26/2002
Reviewer: Andrew W.
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Alright. This review is going to start out sounding kind of negative, but stick around a bit because once I get some stuff off my chest it will get better. I hope I don’t offend anyone by writing this but if I do... oh well. If you are a Mest fan and you were at the show at the Quest on January 26, you probably aren't too smart. More on that in a bit.
This was a very interesting show, because it provided a wide range of experiences. As I was standing in line waiting for them to open the doors, I was a little confused to see a sizeable number of very trendy people saunter up. This brings me to a little side point: if you are dumb enough and care that much about what people think of you that you spend outrageous amounts of money to buy articles of clothing from Abercrombie and Fitch, then you probably don't belong at a punk rock show. (Also, if you are in a band called Mest you probably don’t belong at a punk rock show)
Anyway, I could not help but take notice of the large number of Mest shirts standing in line, and I was standing right in front of four stupid Abercrombie bitches who kept repeating how "stoked" they were to see Mest. The whole business was rather annoying, but I was determined not to let it ruin my evening.
The doors finally opened and once the show started, things began to get better. The first band, Amazing Transparent Man, was previously unbeknownst to me and I have to say the put on a pretty good show. Another little side point: if you don't have the brains to realize that it takes guts to stand up in front of other people and play your music, even if it is not the band you came to see, you probably don't belong at a punk rock show. These guys were making playing their first major show outside the Chicago area, and some jerkoff kept yelling at them to get off the stage. HAVE A LITTLE GODDAMN RESPECT!! Even if you don't like the band playing, keep your mouth shut and let the people who do enjoy it.
The boys of ATM played a good set and their music sounded to be pretty well written, although the mic was not balanced quite right so I couldn't get a very good feel on the vocals. Even so, they provided a good warm up for the main attraction of the evening... Bigwig.
If you have not seen Bigwig live, put it on the top of your list right now. Some bands can have all the energy in the world, but without a good stage presence it just doesn't do much. These guys have a great natural stage presence that carries through their whole set. They got me going right away when drummer Matt lit his cymbals on fire to start the first song and they never looked back. They played a nice mixture of newer and older songs, and I was very happy to hear their cover of the Cheers theme song. Perhaps the only think missing was the DeWalt at the beginning of Mr. Asshole.
Bigwig's appearance was a bit unfair for anyone who had to follow them, but Blink 182, err, Mest was unfazed. They had easily the most fans there; without exaggeration I think they had roughly twice the number that headlining H20 had. I chose not to bother to even listen to more than about two and a half of their songs throughout their entire set.
H20 put on a fairly good show for those who stuck around and left me with a good taste in my mouth on the way home. Overall this was one of the most enjoyable shows I had seen in some time, and if you ever get the chance to see Bigwig perform, don't let the opportunity slip through your fingers.
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