Just when I was about to jump in the car I get
a text message from a friend ´Hey, Earthless were great last night´.
I was intrigued. I had a long weekend and I was
really tired. But what I found kept me smiling for a couple of days. It went
like this:
Isaiah gets on the stage; says thanks to
everyone. ‘Pretty humble dude’ – I think. A few jokes; they start slow, warming
up… It sounds okay. The show goes on: nothing special just yet. Nice riff, I
think… Bam-bam-bam the drummer goes ahead. It´s building up… the beat is faster
and faster, getting more complex. One of the drum stick drops… Mario keeps
playing with the other hand, grabs it from the floor and gets it back in place…
a smirk on his face that is returned by Isaiah on the guitar. No one stops. The
bass, consistant and autistic to what´s happening in the show room. He keeps
following the drums. A few licks here and there: really tight notes. You have
to listen carefully to pick the variations. Really consistent baseline… I think
on his fingers, must be sore…. Not a pause, sweat… Something happens on the left
hand side of the stage… f**k, the amplifier has blown out! Robert gets a new
one from the backstage and brings it across to the other side… Mario and Mike
don´t even blink: they keep going with their hypnotic beat… It´s all fixed now:
different amp, same guitar. Slightly different tone but doesn´t matter. A few
minutes to get into the swing and catch up with Mario and Mike. Already going
full throttle: bending on the 20th fret… Come on guys, let´s go! Mario´s
sweating. I can see the veins on his arms; I wonder if that hurts. The bass
player is still going, non-stop… Isaiah steps to the front and does a ridiculously
sharp bend on the guitar… man, you´re laughing! … I cannot avoid a chuckle and his
eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second. He´s having such a good time… Damn
it, so great! It seems they are winding down… Oh, no! It´s finishing… Here you
go: an hour has just passed by.
They come for seconds. A song with a bit of
singing, then thanks and goodbye. Such a great show.
Thanks for reading.