Richmond - The Triple is a long ways away on Broad Street when your only means of transportation is a bicycle.  Despite the trek, I got there only a short time after the first of four bands started playing.  For me, this was an impromptu assignment, hastily thrown together on the front porch of a friend's house.  I had this lurking feeling in the back of my head that was desperately trying to tell me I had forgotten something, but I couldn't figure out what it was.  That's the way I am with deadlines.  I never seem to notice them until they have gone careening past.  The deadline I was forgetting this time was to line up a show to cover this month.  Luckily, I was talking with Greta Brinkman at the time I finally did remember, and to my relief she said her new band Druglord had a show coming up at the Triple.  I had seen Druglord at their first show a couple months back, but my memories of the occasion are hidden somewhere in a deep haze.  Vague flahes of a jam packed crowd, loud music, and skeletons on the wall seem to burst forth from this haze, but for the most part all is lost.

That brings us back to the Triple and a band called Ocean.  To tell you the truth, I didn't hear much of this band as I somehow got stuck chatting on the sidewalk for a while after arriving.  What I did hear were almost physical waves of sound cascading out the door every time it was opened.

The next two bands were Pontiak and Hell Bear.  Pontiak is a slow, stoney metal band from out of town, while Hell Bear is a beloved, hard rocking metal band from around Richmond.  They were just getting back from a hiatus due to injury.  These first three bands put on a good show, and Hell Bear was a definite highlight.  I had been meaning to to see them for a while but just hadn't had a chance.

By the time Druglord took the stage I was appropriately drunk and somehow had managed to end up in a tight fitting pink and purple top with no idea where my red plaid lumberjack shirt had gone.  But these things happen, and the show goes on.  And it's a good thing it did.  Greta (bass), Tommy Hamilton (guitar), and Bobby Hufnell (drums) really did a great job laying out a mind-blowing drone of electronic sound.  The melodies were slow and drawn out, effectively drawing the audience in.  By the time they were done I'm sure at least a few people were hypnotized.

Tommy's voice complimented the sound of the band perfectly.  I couldn't understand a word he said, but I didn't need to.  It was the sound that mattered.  Fuck words and meanings.  The sound was all consuming.  It was hard to even have a coherent thought since the sound of the music took my brain over so completely.  I loved it.

My second experience with Druglord leads me to a similar conlusion as my first: it's really hard to retain any clear memories of their performance.  They may not be dealing any kind of actual drug, but the music they deal out acts like it - consuming your brain in a passion of loud hypnotic sounds.

BassGoddessGreta.com

MySpace.com/Greta_Brinkman

By Editor (Managing) and Correspondent: Robin Marschak

Robin Marschak was born and raised in Richmond, VA. After a brief attempt at attending an engineering school in Claremont, CA he returned home to study English at VCU, an endeavour he is currently still engaged in. One thing that has remained unchanging throughout his life is a love of music. He was raised on local bands such as the Ululating Mummies and Dogs New Clothes as well as more classic mainstream bands such as the Beatles and the Grateful Dead. As a teen his tastes shifted towards the punk scene and bands such as TSOL, Operation Ivy, and Rancid, and while he maintains a deep love of this style of music he has broadened his listening palette quite a bit in recent years especially into the realms of country and old time music. His favorite bands currently are Popebear, a blues-funk fusion band out of Pasadena, CA, the Hot Seats, a string band from Richmond, and the No BS! Brass Band, also from Richmond. As far as more national acts go he tries to catch shows by bands like Umphrey's McGee, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Belleville Outfit whenever possible.