It was a hot and humid evening, the mosquitos buzzed the sweating face of the toll attendant who asked politely for the two dollars to cross the mighty bridge into the grimly lit city of Cape Coral. I impatiently dumped a cup full of quarters into her innocently stretched hands and sped off into the fading sun. This was a time for excitement because I was headed to the best place for live music in all of Southwest Florida: Nice Guys Pizza. This venue creates the most mouth-watering pizza that I would die passionately for. The atmosphere is energetic and the lights are turned down low to create a colorful yet somber vibe throughout the restaurant. But I wasn't here for pizza or drinks; no I was here for one reason and one reason only: live music.
The music scene of Southwest Florida matches its environment: both are captivating complex webs of interconnected agents that bring to life the bigger environment. The people help each other out with creativity being the main driving force behind the alienated minds of artists and musicians. As I waited patiently for the show to start, I saw all walks of life come before me. Young college kids laughing with each other while they leaned against a poster-riddled wall. Middle-aged dads relived their teenage years through the noisy clangs of the pinball machines that lined the floor. An older couple chats with their granddaughter as though they are in the comfort of their living room sofas while punk rock music blares on the radio. Lightning strikes as a wall of thunder and rain empty into the street, and the show starts to begin.
The Sweet Serenade
The crowd began to thicken as musician Kyle Anne took the stage with her hypnotic performance. The folk roots of her music reminded me of the isolated rides I used to take in the desert to forget the perils of the city. Spinning bluegrass guitar chords flooded the sound waves of the room while Kyle Anne's strong and melodic voice pulled at the hearts and minds of the audience. The lyrics conjure up images of a wary traveler hopping trains and hitch-hiking roads, trying to escape the place where her heart was buried among the ashes of her memories. My soul was heavy yet uplifted, I felt like traveling far and wide across the heartland of America, singing her captivating song "O My Weary Heart". Her music will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but more importantly, it will make you think about the crazy world we live in.
The Sharp Steel Edge
The venue started to fill as the second act, Bethlehem Steel, began to take the reins of this howling show. Hailing from The Big Apple, band member Becca commanded the stage with her single guitar. The rest of her crew could not make it down to the swampy, humid, depths of the Sunshine State, but it did not matter. Becca shredded her muddy sounding guitar and laid over some soft, comfortable lyrics that brought up images of a barren NYC apartment floor littered with coffee stains,cigarette ashes and past-due rent notices. Her performance was full of energy, it grabbed at the crowd and shook them relentlessly out of their minds. Its aggressive and wary sound comes from the streets of the cold and forgotten concrete city. When I asked Becca to describe her music, she laughed and said that it was a "loud sadness". Perfection. The only thing missing was the full sound of the rest of the band, which would have really brought together the performance. Nonetheless, Bethlehem Steel is a band that I look forward to seeing in the near future.
The Deadly Solstice
The next band was one I had been waiting to see for a long time. The powerful punk rock group that is The Young Dead took to the stage to set the night on fire. Front woman Angela tattered the strings of her grimly guitar while bassist Kristian strummed away deep tones of death. Freshly picked guitarist Collin wailed his axe to the hollowing sounds of doom that the band was playing, while drummer Pete smashed any remaining life he had out of his drums. My empty bones were filled with their explosive energy, I felt as though I were in a car crashing down the side of a cliff into the ocean. Their music brought up images of zombie horror movies, surfing skeletons, river monsters and moonlit swamps. The chain-sawing guitars and the fast beats of the drums made any person want to dance around the floor, strutting and swinging lifelessly around. I had to contain myself because of the small venue, but my photographer and I really wanted to get ourselves moving to the high energy of The Young Dead. During one of the songs Angela let out a wailing scream that woke the dead up from their deep slumber, I felt as though she was going to transform into a mystical creature right before my eyes. The slow drudging of the newly written song "Solstice" transformed my mind into the thick swamps of the Florida backwoods, ready to summon the gods of the Sun, Moon and Stars. Their set ended with cheers and applause from the audience, but I stood there wanting more. I needed more to feed the spell the band had casted over me, like a zombie looking for brains to feed his dead heart. I cant wait to see their next show. I need to see their next performance. The Young Dead are truly one of the best bands to see here in Southwest Florida.