LIVE REVIEW

The Ocean @ The Knitting Factory,Hollywood Ca.

By: Gian Erguiza - July, 2008

At around 12:20ish, the set starts with lights and ambience. The mood for the night was what you'd expect from a progressive metal show with fans and crowd, watching and banging their heads in approval while the band played it's signature sound switching from experimental to heavy fucking metal. Sporting black t-shirts and black pants, or at least from what my blind ass can see, the boys of The Ocean came out of the depths and rang the experimental bell and gave our ears something to listen to. Hell, they even had a light set up. The light set up was perfect in complimenting the sound The Ocean was emulating and man did it look fucking great!

At first I was suspect of how they were going to pull off some of the songs live but they did and they did it without fail! They came out swinging! There was a point in there where I actually got lost to the music. Maybe I was just real buzzed but from I what I remembered, they brought me someplace else for a second or two. I loved the aggresiveness they displayed, cohesive with the attitude that is The Ocean. The only problem I had was: I couldn't remember any titles of their songs if my life depended on it. I was basically lost in the translation but it didn't bother me as they rocked me and I was glad to be there.

Ripping right through their set list, The Ocean had us all in the mercy of their hands. The blistering sound coming from the speakers were monster and big. Robin Stapps and crew are finally here. After months of waiting for The Ocean to come and give us some ass kicking progressive metal, they had finally hit Hollywood and we were ready to experience The Ocean. And what an experience it was.

It was a little late for me for starters and my Los Angeles Lakers had just suffered an embarrasing defeat which in my opinion, sealed their fate of winning the NBS finals championship. That put me in a fucked up mood. I am a life long Laker fan and yeah I know what you're thinking, "A metalhead Laker fan? What?" Yes I am, I'm not your typical metalhead, I am a hybrid.

Anyhow, back to the lecture at hand. The Ocean filled up the place. At one point when Intronaut started, the place was mildly packed but by the end of their set, to my surprise, The Ocean fans had come out of the woodwork to show their support. The Ocean's progressive metal experimental style had me interested from the get-go. I haven't been to a show like this in a long time and boy was it refreshing. I've been going to some mediocre metal shows and man was I getting tired of the same ol' 'We're harder, faster, and I can scream my lungs out without melody' type of show so this was a good thing. although I ducked out before the Ocean's set ended, I got a good feel on the power and strength that is, The Ocean.

Other notable notes, Intronaut had a much skilled bass player which was a treat. They were quite alright as well. The band before them, can't remember the name, sounded good as well. As a three-piece band, they sounded like a four-piece at times.

One more thing, you're probably wondering why that live shot doesn't like familiar right? Well, I ran out of battery right before they came on. My stupid ass forgot to charge them the night before. Fuckin' great huh?

Till next time.

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