Yesterday’s Rad Rich Birthday Bash at The Meridian was a good time. Unfortunately, not more of you know this since the event was pretty poorly attended (at least the 5 or so hours I was there). I am not sure why I am continually surprised at poor turnouts for local events — maybe because for $10 and more than 25 different performers at something that starts early in the day, I just expected people would be interested.

Regardless, I saw some great music and had a good time. The highlights, as expected, were Luxurious Panthers and Something Fierce. Both bands played great sets, even though Something Fierce’s set was cut short by the venue. Oh well — they deftly showed why they’re one of the best young bands in town. You should definitely check out their new album, Come For The Bastards.

I didn’t get there early enough to catch all but the last few seconds of The Black Math Experiment‘s set. Some things I read said doors at noon & show at 2, but I also saw something that indicated that bands started at 4pm. Oh well, I’ll see them again sometime.

One musician that continually barked about the sad state of the crowd situation was rapper Drail (that’s “D-rail”). He called the few attendees “the smartest seven people in the club.” But he and another rapper (whose name I missed) put on a great performance, despite the lack of crowd participation. I think everyone in the room was impressed. Same goes for the set by rapper Mic Skills, whose set included accompaniment by an electric guitar for riffs, which made for an interesting addition to his music. I suggest you check out both Drail and Mic Skills.

Skyblue72 blew away the audience, as usual. Their set killed and had their fans worked up. Same goes for 9 Volt, a band I had never seen before but will definitely check out live in the near future. I also caught a set from Lake Charles’ 10 Seconds Flat, whose played an interesting mixture of old-style punk and alt-rock. I enjoyed their energetic set but am not sure how well it’ll translate on CD (which they gave away for free at the show).

I left shortly after Something Fierce’s set (around 9pm) so I cannot vouch for the rest of the night. Hopefully, the crowd grew and the bands kept rocking.