The Exies, Theory of a Deadman
and Breaking Benjamin
March 29, 2005
Ogden Theater, Denver
PHEW! This sold out show at the Ogden
had a line longer than I’d seen for sometime,
although I’m not sure just how long because
I couldn’t actually see the end and didn’t
have the patience to follow the trail endlessly.
Instead I took my adventurous self to the Lounge
on Colfax for a seat and the bar and a drink before
I braved the waiting game with the kids and to meet
Chris Cabatbat, our fabulous Kaffeine Buzz photo
guy.
Once I arrived at the venue there
was the guest list process and having to inform
such photographer that despite my persistence the
photo pass had not surfaced. You see the pesky politics
had reined their head again, and although we weren’t
there to shoot headliner Breaking Benjamin we needed
their label’s permission to have a “real”
camera inside the show (we were working with Virgin,
Exies label). Luckily Chris had some fancy European
camera that looked like it came straight out of
the 1950’s and wouldn’t be detected.
I felt like James Bond making sure my small, pen
shaped incendiary devices were as well concealed
as his secret picture taking tool.
When we finally made it in I became
completely enamored by the crowd. It must have ranged
in age from 6 to probably 65. As Breaking Benjamin
started, I noticed a 10 year old, visibly tired
and holding onto the rail, attempting to rock. Classic.
From the “forbidden spot” by the Ogden
bar (according to Greg the bouncer and my new buddy
the security cop), I was in the perfect spot to
divide my time between dissecting the music and
the crowd while Kimme the bartender took care of
me. I’m not sure which was more entertaining.
As far as the actual reason I was
there, the music, I was truly disappointed that
I missed the majority of The Exies show (damn line!).
From a musical perspective they are probably the
one band that had anything new to offer and I truly
wanted to see them live. They were a bit difficult
to corral after the show with a full schedule of
signing autographs and cavorting with their fans.
Eventually though, they were good sports as they
posed for us like the hams they are……
The show was extremely crowded with
Theory of a Deadman (TOAD) fans and for good reason,
as they were incredibly tight. They made a concerted
effort but failed to really incite the crowd with
anything new to offer musically, other than the
formulated radio crap that I try so hard to avoid.
I did want to give them a chance since I hadn’t
seen them before, so I solicited opinions from people
I met at the show. One longtime TOAD fan compared
them to Tesla. TESLA???!!! ‘Nuff said.
As far as Breaking Benjamin goes,
I didn’t expect to be amazed and I wasn’t,
but I was more impressed than I thought I would
be. The sound was phenomenal (who would expect anything
else from the Ogden?), they were tight and Ben Burnley’s
vocals ranged from melodic to incredible screams.
Their music is easy to listen to and I have to say
that I joined the crowd in rocking out to the tunes.
As Kimmie passed me another shot, Breaking Benjamin
broke out with their new single “Sooner or
Later,” and the crowd reciprocated with some
hands-in-the-air, devil’s horns action. Maybe
it’s just me, but I typically associate devil’s
horns with bands like Metallica, Black Sabbath and
the like whose lyrical content is a bit darker in
nature.
In the long run this band may end
up being great given that they work with people
like Billy Corgan who push them to limits, but they
do have some work to do to distinguish themselves
from everyone else both lyrically and musically.
-Kristen Ostergard, April 8, 2005
Photography, Chris Cabatbat
