Fall of Troy / Portugal, the Man / Kane Hodder / Tera Melos

The El Corazon knows how to celebrate in style. It is renowned for having quality bands play there on a regular basis, and their anniversary bash was no exception. California’s Tera Melos took to the stage, and completely blew that theory that you can "miss the first band and not miss a thing” completely out of the water. With jilted and jerky guitars along the lines of Fall of Troy but no vocals, these guys still manage to easily enrapture a crowd with the three members going hard out on their instruments. The Seattle area’s Kane Hodder took to the stage next, with half the crowd loving it and ripping it up in the mosh pit, while the remainder met their Alexisonfire-meets-pubescent boy sound with rolling eyes and snide remarks. They are stretching for something a little different, but without the vocal chops to handle the melodic sing-song portions, their music ends up falling short for those outside of the hyped-up mosh pit. Alaska’s Portugal, the Man took the stage next with a bevy of friends laden with their axes and other instrumentation. These three boys really know how to put on a music feast for their crowd. Singer/guitarist John Baldwin Gourley’s vocals are just high enough to cut through and stand clearly amongst the roaring den of instrumentation (with seven or so people on stage with them at most times). Headliners Fall of Troy took to the stage next, and made the crowd go absurdly crazy with the continuance of fast flying fingers across the fret board, and played a few new songs as well as a majority of their album, Doppleganger. Overall, this show was a feast fit for a king, and the whole crowded blue-hewn room ate their fill with gluttonous pleasure.