Looking in the paper to see a reasonably large ad for Candlebox at the Hard Rock Casino is enough to get the wheels spinning for at least a second. Then to see they got Blind Melon to warm the show is enough to say, "hey why not".
Like a lot of kids who grew up in the 90's I played the hell out of their self titled debut album, and was slightly dissapointed by the fact that they fell victim of the classic Sophomore slump in the second. After that, Pearl Jam was the only Seattle band selling any more records. Its probable that their contract kept them shelved after that, inhibiting them from flourishing in the latter part of the decade. I will never forget singer Kevin Martin's words, (went something of the effect of) "You have your whole life to write your first record, and one year to write your second." This was said demonstrating the nearly unrealistic expectation of touring to support one record and at the same time write another one that radio arbitron gives the same ratings too.
Regardless of their fall to obscurity, I will never forget them for one thing, Far Behind. When you write a song like Far Behind, a song that really capsulizes much of the sound that existed in the early 90's, you are never too obscure to draw an audience. When a book is written about the sound of the grunge movement of the early 90's, Candlebox has certainly earned an honorable mention.
To the show. With this sort of mind set, you might expect to come to the show and sit in the back and expect a night more entertaining than watching the humorously dissapointing episodes of the Office. If that is your set up, than you would be very pleasantly wowed.
The band took the stage appearing to have matured out of their early 20's, with the singer Kevin Martin looking so unsuspecting as a frontman, you may have walked by him early that day and thought he worked as a computer programmer and loves to use Apple computers, thirty pounds heavier than I remember, and looking a bit like an older Rob Thomas.
Once the amps cranked up, I immediately forgot all about the distance of time between now and their last hit. Candlebox can still put on a show that forces me to used overly cli-che'ed and childish descriptions like, "Kicked Ass!, Totally Rocked, and Way Awesome." Kevin Martin had a kind of confidence that told me he doesn't know he isn't in the 90's anymore, and you know what, the crowd didn't either. It was like a time warp to arena/ grunge/ metal Rock music at its finest. To make it more interesting, the grunge era wasn't exactly known for its shredders and axe-masters, so naturally you don't think much about Candlebox in that regard, but original guitarist Peter Klett set the stage on fire with his flawless and powerful execution of his heavy hitting hard rock licks. The band is still a power team that could make another headliner nervous to have them as an opening act. And from the size of the audience (4000 plus) they don't need to play anybody's second fiddle.
The night got better as the versatility of the show kept it interesting, but the highlight was when Kevin Martin broke into monologuing of the middle of the hard rocking song Arrow, to make mention of the Seattle greats (Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, Queensryche, Nirvana.... etc) and to regard other influences. Martin pointed out their influences by NAILING the first verse/chorus to Zepplin's Immigrant song, to Ozborne's Crazy Train, Ac-Dc's Highway to hell and worthy mention of David Lee Roth Van Halen. Granted that was a shameless crowd pleasing moment, but it was executed so well, you had to give them credit. Besides, its Rock n' Roll, if its not entertaining a hyped up mass of adreneline, what is it good for?
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