Live: A dream Asleep and the Juggernaut

ROCBAR — 1/24/2010: A dream Asleep was throwing their video release party Sunday night at Rocbar. I had been feening to see this thing since singer Mike Seals texted me saying that they were shooting a video for their first single, “Horus -vs- The Juggernauts,” that there would be a few kegs, and that everyone should be at his place at 4:20. I didn’t make the video shoot but was anxious to see how the music video panned out because admittedly, A dream Asleep is one of my favorite bands in Houston, and somehow, they managed to keep the video more under wraps than classified nuclear secrets.

I got to Rocbar just as Burn the Boats were finishing their set. Burn the Boats are another one of those fly ass Houston bands. I saw them play in the parking lot of Dirt Bar once, and they were this raw package of massive sound and grimy vocals. It does seem they might read a tad too much Greek mythology, as a great number of their songs deal with crossing the river Hades and Pegasi and such.

Once Burn the Boats cleared the stage, it became painfully obvious why Rocbar is such a fantastic place to have a video release party: gigantic screens and full wall projections. After a brief introduction, the video rolled on every wall in that place, and I’m not saying it was IMAX, but it was pretty huge.

“Horus -vs- The Juggernauts” was directed by John Hale, who also directed the upcoming film American Streetpunk and Oi. It’s pretty much your basic party video, which is generally what happens when you’re DIY and don’t have the massive budget for location rentals, pyrotechnics, and Go-Go dancers, but they were still able to pack it full of humor, tattoos, beer pong, and a bear, and it still had room to sneak in a romantic storyline just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The video was fun, but it could only give you a small taste of what A dream Asleep are like live, which is why they blessed us with a set directly after. I’m not one for hyperbole, but A dream Asleep have the best live show in Houston. I see tons of great bands, and this isn’t a knock to any of them; it’s just that ADA have that little notch that puts them in the lead by a nose.

There’s nothing like watching guitarist Erik Girth jump-sidekick some poor unsuspecting spectator in the middle of a breakdown, and then see the poor kid actually enjoy it. Not to mention that the guy’s so thin, he’s two-dimensional. Every time he turns to the side, all you see is guitar.

Then you have their other guitarist, Justin Smith, who constantly launches himself off the kick drum, and drummer Aaron Perez, who looks like Slash and wrecks the set while singing backup vocals and smoking cigarettes — all at the same time. Then there’s bassist Ryan Girth, who at 7’4″ is the tallest bass player I’ve ever seen in my life. He constantly has to pound the bass, with 4’2″ Mike Seals frequently climbing on him to sing from the lofty perch of his back.

Okay, I kid; Ryan’s 6’3″, and Mike isn’t that short — it just seems like it when he’s next to Ryan. And let’s not forget good ol’ Mike Seals himself. You put a wireless microphone in this dude’s hand, and he will be on and in any and everything he can get into — the pit, on top of the bar, on the riser, the pool table, Ryan’s back, some poor slob in the audience. The guy’s more mischievous than a Gremlin. He puts the “ADHD” in ADA.

Some bands I go to see for the music, some bands I go to see because they bring it live; with A dream Asleep, I get both. After their set, hell, even I was exhausted. Dickey Hands took the stage and finished out the night, and, oddly enough, I had recurring dreams of bears and beer pong. END