ARSENIQ 33 + Floating Widget + Wolfunkind @ Cabaret

By Johnnybot - Turn Down the Suck - 04/29/2005

This show had a bit of an odd bill. While both Arseniq 33 and Floating Widget are very good bands, they are completely different from each other. The contrast was a little too strong and the show suffered from it despite individually good sets.

France’s Wolfunkind were up first. Their sound was a sort of hard-rocking, almost metal, type of funk. While the term funk-metal would lead one to assume that a band sucked, Wolfunkind were actually pretty darn good. They were in complete control of what they were playing and presented it in tight little package. Wolfunkind were exactly the type of band that you’d expect to find opening for Arseniq 33.

Floating Widget, however, isn’t the type of band that fits with Arseniq’s style. This caused a bit of a problem, as the audience, who were there almost entirely there for Arseniq 33, didn’t seem to get it. At one point, I even heard someone explaining to his friend what “this new trend called stoner rock” is. Don’t get me wrong, Floating Widget is an awesome band, but they just didn’t manage to connect with the crowd. Besides that, the only other issue was that the vocals were a bit overpowering in the mix, but otherwise, it was a very good, very rockin’ set. The band played a couple of songs that aren’t on Praises –- it’s always a good thing to hear new material live. The song “I Wanna Be A Robot” was definitely a highlight of the night, as was the intro of “Resurrection”, which was pure desert rock magic.

Unlike just about everyone else present, I was there to see Widget, so there was some temptation to leave early since I was already satisfied. However, Arseniq 33 had just enough appeal to get me to stick around. Oddly, during their set, I had the weird feeling that I didn’t really belong there. I’m only a casual listener of Arseniq 33 and just wasn’t able to feel the enthusiasm that was spewing from all of their fans. I was left thinking: “Yeah, they’re good, but come on guys, they aren’t that good”. I do have to admit though that Arseniq 33 does deliver live. They’re super-energetic, frantic even, and were simply blazing. For example, their cover of “Ace of Spades” put Motörhead to shame; and surprisingly enough, the crowd actually slowed down during that song! For fans, it was an excellent set.

Overall, it was a good show, even if the sum of the parts was greater than the whole, if you know what I mean.

[Tune in to Turn Down The Suck Mondays 1:30pm – 3:00pm]