I caught a cab into Pioneer Square about 11:00pm, as my friend caught a bad case of salmon fettuccine earlier that evening and was, ahem, otherwise occupied for the evening. Down the stairs I went, opened the door to the Catwalk, and to my left was the doorman. "Hello, I'm Margit Rose from DSO". I receive the proper clearance (stamped image on inside of wrist) and I was in. I made a beeline for the bar, purchased a pack of Camels, inhaled the first of many and surveyed the crowd. SMP had a fairly good showing of people for this evening's performance. It's 11:30pm.
A confession - what little I know of SMP is just that, very little. According to the website I'm to expect a danceable cyberpunk performance with rap. The rap bit is not my usual cup of tea, but promising comparisons to KMFDM, and Ministry keep me hoping for the best. I'm hoping like mad, as I've heard this line so many times before only to be thoroughly disappointed. I'll ditch my usual cynicism and keep an open mind this evening.
11:45pm and SMP strut out and much to my pleasant surprise, they actually deliver on their promise from the first surge of sound. A wall of tight drumbeats with an intense baseline gets crowd up and dancing (which is always a good sign) and I'm compelled to move in closer to the stage. Lead vocalist Jason Bazinet announces: "Were SM muthafuckin' P" as he closes the first song. Wince. But they're young and tough and it goes with the territory. I'm still very interested in where this is all going.
What I can tell you, without a doubt, is that the performance was consistently solid throughout, complete with a glittering shower of sparks (courtesy of Jason and his grinder). Note to self: make the effort to get familiar with their CDs. For the time being though, I would highly recommend seeing SMP live. You won't be disappointed. I imagine I won't be let down by their CDs either.
Margit Rose
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