(I have been procrastination about writing up this post because I know that I can never really do justice to the show with mere words on the page.... but here it goes)
Before I get into the show... let me give you a brief description of my personal history with Bargain Music. I was originally turned on to the band by my good friend/former roommate, Woodrow McPants. Over the years the band has gone through numerous personnel changes surrounding the back bone of the band: Josh Fischel ("a six foot four troubadour who can barely play guitar" but can melt your face with his vocal power and range). If I was forced to describe their style I would have to call it punk rock and reggae, with folk, country, heavy metal, and countless other influences. Unfortunately, by the time of my introduction to Bargain, they band had essentially called it quits, thus nixing the potential for me to see the band in concert (or so I thought). I dug my way through the band's back catalog and they quickly became my favorite band. Fischel's vocals and songwriting are some of the best I've ever encountered. While I had seen Josh perform solo (which is, don't get me wrong, absolutely astounding), I had long wished that I had been able to see the whole band play. Thus, when Woody told me that the original Bargain Music line-up would be playing a one night anniversary show, I was there.
And so it was that Woody, Smalls, Panda, Chow, T and I found ourselves at DiPiazza's on the night of July 30th.
Prior to the night's main attraction, Josh opened (for himself) with his new band Josh Fischel and the Fiction. The Fiction kicked ass... Josh's singing was epic as always, their bassist was tight and funky, the guitarist shreds, keys were holding it down, and don't even get me started on their drummer. Their version of Cripple Creek was one of the best I've ever heard (no disrespect to The Band). The Fiction alone would have been an amazing show unto themselves, but... then came the original lineup of Bargain Music.
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| I only managed to snag this one crappy photo because I was too busy having my socks rocked off |
I was seriously not kidding when I said that this was the best show I've ever seen. They played all of my favorites: "Black Eye", "Long Beach Millennium", "It's Called Fucking". Sure, they were a little bit rusty having not played together for more or less a decade, but seeing all of those songs played live was incredible. And the energy of the show was amazing, DiPiazza's was packed with people who had been fans since the beginning; many of them knew Josh and the band personally... hell... some of them were even the subjects of song lyrics. Everyone in the entire building sang along the entire time. My face was literally melting with the awesomeness of the entire spectacle. It was a life changing experience.
In the end, it was an evening full of songs that I never thought I'd see performed and will never forget having seen.
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