56 for Flatfoot

By Travis Dvoracek
Contributing Writer

For those of you who did not know about it, and there were a lot of you, there was an amazing show last Saturday. It was a little four-band show that was headlined by Flatfoot 56 over at Gio‘s Event Center. This was also the first show that was brought to the area by Dive 95.9, the new indie station in town.

While being advertised all the time on the Dive, there was still not a great turnout for the show. For those of you who did know and just didn’t feel like going, you missed one hell of a show. When the place finally got going, everybody there was trying to give Flatfoot everything they had.

The three other bands at the show where some of the local acts from around North Dakota, Starting with Roll the Credits from Grand Forks. They’re a younger band so I’m not sure how long they’ve been playing , but they had a descent-sized set list. Their sound was more of a new wave metal, Metalcore—the type of music might hear on Q98.

This is the type of music that is showing up a lot more these days, so I’m sure there are a lot of people who would be into it. That being said, I don’t know if it was what the crowd was in the mood for. There wasn’t much enthusiasm for them. But I don’t think that it was entirely the music’s fault. I think it was more their stage performances.

The most active member of their band was the bassist, and he was hidden behind a speaker tower and one of the guitarists. They were moving around and did a couple of synchronized headbangs, and the singer got into some songs, but they just seemed bored. A tip for them: Don’t let small crowds discourage you, get active and have a good time. You need to act like the show is big, even if it’s a small crowd. That way, the crowd will feel your enthusiasm and get into your music.

Roll the Credits should take a lesson from the band that went on after them, Stay out Late, from Minot. They had this heavier indie sound that seemed like something you may have heard before, but in this new way. And it was weird, because they started out with this dance beat from their keyboard that made me think these guys were going to be something like Attack Attack. But then they started their set and really took off. They really helped liven the show up.

These guys seemed to have the right idea to get people going. They had a high energy to them and wanted to share it with the crowd. They were moving, they were rocking out, they joked around with each other and the crowd, the singer looked like he was having a seizure a couple of times. It was a good time for all.

Next up after Stay out Late was Fargo’s very own punk band, The Babysitters Club. And besides some hiccups with their mics and soundboard, they gave the crowd a good time. Joking about how their boards weren’t working right, about still learning some of their newer songs, and just having a good time with what they had. They weren’t as active as Stay out Late but still showed that they where having fun.

Then Flatfoot took the stage and stole the show, blowing everyone away with their Celtic tones. Flatfoot is a Celtic/Irish Punk band form Chicago and is set to be on the next Vans Warp Tour. They also can command the audience like no one else. They saw that there wasn’t much movement going on, so they got to work. As soon as as they took the stage, they started to yell at everyone to get them pumped up. They started to play and the pit erupted, and it didn’t stop. Every song had a pit to it. While they played Amazing Grace, the previously moshing crowd had their arms over each other’s shoulders and started a can can. It was one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen.

Even with the small crowd and the sound problems that some of the bands had, it was still an awesome show. Flatfoot and the other bands had amazing sets and really showed off what they had. If we can get some more of these shows around here, maybe we can get a better turnout then what we had on Saturday.

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If You Go

What: Flatfoot 56
Where: Black Sheep Cafe, Springfield, Ill.
When: Thurs, May 20, 7pm
Info: 704.343.9432