There is something about Bottom Of The Hill, most likely in large part due to the infamous booker there, Ramona Downey (and Ursula Rodriguez, of course), but nonetheless they are always on the cutting edge of what's coming up in the San Francisco music scene. And perhaps that's the point when you place a club in the middle of an abandoned warehouse district, you better know what you're doing just to get bodies in the door. Case and point, last night local alt-rock power bands Robots Of Fury, Fighting The Villain and Scene Of Action schedule a bill filled to the brim with writhing guitar solos, pedal distortions, grungy female (and male!) lead vocals and so much angst it could barely contain the room.
That being said, openers Robots Of Fury were not ones to be reckoned with. Their experienced sound and clean synchronicities gave them enough credit in our book to be their own headliners. Nonetheless, perfected guitar solos and a pedal train of distortions by guitarist Jamie Cronander launched their sound into the arena of noise without crossing the barrier entirely, while Amir Djavaherian's hard-hitting bass lines matched the intensity of lead singer Valerie Giuili's deep and dark style mildly reminiscent of a rare operatic contralto. Blended together with Logan's steady drums, and Robots Of Fury have enough stage presence and depth to their material that we wouldn't be surprised to see them come one up in the world with a little time. So for now, all we have to say is, we told you so.
The other extremely notable up-and-comers and headliners, Scene Of Action, have already been hit by Live 105 as "one of the Bay Area's ten best new bands." We have to admit we were skeptical at first, but one live performance later and we're completely convinced. Celebrating their album release for 20 MInute Hourglass, Scene Of Action retained most of the crowd, if not gained some followers throughout the night. With lead singer, Joel's keyboard skills on loop on his iPod, the indie alt-rock trio charged through their set list on a mission with barely any room to breathe. It was one power nod after the next with an effortless breeze that only comes from extremely tight performances and well-guided musicians. Not to mention Ian is probably the best drummer we've ever seen live. No, seriously, this guy is that good. Their closing song "Keeping Up" was enough to make us beg for more. All in all, these guys have what it takes to make it big and we look forward to their upward climb and covering them from larger venues in the near future.