The Goody Two Shoes/The Lions Rampant/The Turnbull ACs/The Give Ups @ The Oregon Express 1.19.08

...with wind chills on this evening plummeting below zero, it seemed unlikely that many people would make it out to The Oregon Express, even for this promising bill. Fortunately, we here in Gem City find such conditions irrelevant when it comes time to rock n' roll...

...opening the evening, the brutal precision of The Give Ups left us wondering how we've been missing these guys for so long. With an obvious affinity for the first wave of punk, these guys were no-frills all the way....


...although we'd seen they were coming to Dayton several times in the past, we'd not had the good fortune of catching The Turnbull ACs before this night. While we weren't entirely sure what to expect, we were blown away by the impassioned delivery and brilliant, life-soaked lyrics. This was a set you got absorbed in. As various members cracked a smile upon the realization that all cylinders were firing, we couldn't help but get swept up in the swagger and snarl of The Turnbull ACs...



...digging even deeper into the abyss of the raw emotions hovering in the core of rock n' roll, The Lions Rampant unapologetically dove head first into their blues-heavy brand of garage. With blistering guitar breaks and primal drums stomping, The Lions Rampant whipped the audience into a frenzy. Lead Lion Stuart MacKenzie prowled the stage, stumbling back into the drums one minute, scaling amplifiers the next, then ending the evening with the abandonment of his guitar and serving up a shamanic reading of the primordial "Gloria"...



...while having made great strides over the past few months to refine their sound, we still find ourselves lukewarm on The Goody Two Shoes. With a handful of songs that show promise, we'd like to see these ladies and gentlemen elevate their sound to the level of their style. Regardless, the kids on this night loved it...