Live: OnPoint at Karma Lounge 10.26.9

Despite the less than ideal environs, OnPoint rocked the hell out of the Karma Lounge basement the other night. I've been tied up in So Hideous mixing and hating my job, so apologies to the OnPoint kids (and their rabid fans) for the lack of timely coverage.

Evidently, the people booking Karma are/were looking to expand their demographic a little bit by bringing in Team OP. Not sure how the not-especially-good opening singer-songwriter dude felt, but it sure brought more people in the room than the maybe one person who might have been there to see them. He did win over the guy whose job for the night seemed to be to play incidental cocktail jazz for 2 to 5 minutes between sets and then be in the way of everybody loading in, which may have been a small consolation.

OnPoint followed the songwriter guy and pretty much killed it. Olga sure can sing (and is far from un-easy on the eyes). Paired with Dylan and Matt, it's a good time. They need to get some recordings out, but in the interim they have added a bass player. He played on the last three or four tracks on the set, firing the already excited crowd up into the most spirited display of headbanging I've seen in some time. Keep up on the integration of the new guy in the franchise and hear about upcoming shows at the OnPoint web presence here. Watch out for the robots.

R

Live: OnPoint @ The Delancey 9.26.9

The F*Bomb parties have been quite the gold mine for OnPoint over the past year. They are playing better and better sets to ever-growing crowds and they get the benefit of the fine stable of lovely F*Bomb ladies dancing through their sets. Works for me. Even if hadn't, the ocean of Guinness I pounded down previous to the show would have more than made up for any deficiencies.

OnPoint are really killing it lately, with new songs in the set and an ever-growing air of confidence about them when they play. There is always a large and vocal turn-out that rarely appears to leave unsatisfied. I was pretty stoked on the new song and the whole thing only asserts that we need a recording from OnPoint very soon. In the meantime, check out mp3s and live footage here.

R

Live: The Silos @ Bloodshot Records Anniversary BBQ, Bell House 9.26.9

I feel the same about Bloodshot Records as I do about Merge in 2009. They are sort of like the awesome girl you used to date that you managed to stay cool with. I love, love, loved almost everything that came down their pike five or six years ago and their SXSW parties are the stuff of legend. You can't beat free beer and tacos at 11am during a Texas spring. Save for the mighty Bobby Bare Jr. and The Silos, I can't say I've been over the moon about their last couple releases, but there was no way I wasn't going to represent for their 15th.

So now, let me bitch: I can understand how they want to get bodies in the room and make it worthwhile for both Bloodshot and The Bell House, but post a fucking schedule in advance already. I saw two or three variations of the line-up and showed up at seven to find The Silos (band number #2) playing and a five hour run of not-especially-remarkable bands til Bobby Bare Jr. played at midnight. Party foul, and that's not even taking into consideration the midnight double booking I had with OnPoint. It's weird seeing The Silos without Drew in the band, but they were still top fucking notch, with the largest percentage of old material I've heard them do in years. The are definitely The Who of the roots rock scene and that is due in no small part to Konrad Meissner. That man beats the hell out the kit in the best way possible. You would do well to pick up the entire Silos catalog, but to keep it Bloodshot relevant why not start with Come On Like The Fast Lane. Pour out a little liquor for Drew, too, while you're at it.

I bailed to get shithammered at The Creek and the Cave before the OnPoint show, courtesy of Queens finest bartender (and aldenbarton mainman) Dru St. Aubin, but trust that the rest of the show was ok. I had a moment with Exene who is terrifying well-beyond her diminutive stature and trust that Bobby was as great as normal. Look for a review of his new American Bread EP soon. In the meantime, pop on over to Bloodshot and drop some dollars via this handy link.

R

Filthy (formery Dirty) Bomb Party with OnPoint and Invidia

Hey Kids:

JS-NYC favorites OnPoint and Invidia are playing another one of the Filthy Bomb parties this Saturday at The Delancey. Peep the flyer for the skinny. Booze, metal and burlesque. It's hard to go wrong with that combo.

\m/

R

Live: OnPoint @ Ace Of Clubs 3.7.9

It's nice to see OnPoint making moves in 2009. They've had their ups and downs and now with Olga on the mike things have really been taking a big step forward. Matt and Dylan play damn well together for a couple of long-hairs and the crowds just seem to get bigger and bigger. I'm not sure what the deal is with the kids that dress up like dead people is, but if it fills the room, more power to them. For the record, I'm not talking corpse paint, I'm talking Fangoria.

While a lot of bands in this town make me wish I was dead, I'm glad that OnPoint isn't one of them. Keep tabs on them via the link here and ask them when we're going to see some recordings.

R

Live: OnPoint @ Lit Lounge 2.11.9

Hey Kids:

I'm not going to lie to you all. I feel terrible today, but it's nothing really to do with the Onpoint show last night. Those kids (and drum machine) are really killing it in 2009 and last night was no exception. Hopefully we'll get a record out of them soon. In the meantime, keep tabs on what's going on with the kids here. In other notes, it looks like Olga has a NYC Metal Blog that you can check out here.


Stay Metal!

R

Live: OnPoint and Metal John at The Delancey 12.27.8

It's been a whirlwind couple of days. JS-NYC is skipping town to Istanbul for a week or so and I've been running around trying to get my shit together. I'm glad the last show I saw before I skipped town was OnPoint. It's been months since they played, juggling a new singer and new tunes with all the other ridiculousness that life throws at you, but it was good to see them treading the boards again. This show was part of the regular Dirty Bomb NYC nights that go on at the Delancey, so we also got dancing go-go girls to sweeten the pot. I'm not sure they were there for the early part of Metal John's set, but I caught the end and as mighty be expected, it was kind of a sausage party. I would think the avenues would be somewhat limited for a guy who plays solo shred guitar, but in these days of Ron Thal and Buckethead getting shine from the big guys, you never know what might happen. MJ can play and he attracts a pretty big crowd, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for these days. My issues aside, he's a solid guy and great player.

OnPoint has been breaking in a new singer for the last six months or so. They had a bear of a Latina fronting the franchise in their early days and I feared for the worst when the she left the fold, but the new woman, who may be named Olga, kicks a whole lot of ass. At the early shows at Otto's, she seemed a little tentative, but the last couple of months in the practice space really seem to have worked wonders for OnPoint as a band. Two Flying V's and a drum machine provide the backing. Hold on to your ass, as the beats are relentless and the guitar is in your face. I'm not crazy about the NiN cover, but OnPoint is a solid band that I see making big moves in 2009.

Keep tabs on the OnPoint team here. I'm off to Turkey.

R