Reviewed October, 25th
Well, I went to check out Shake at the Rogue Bar mainly to see Black Carl but ended up experiencing a really fun and cool event/venue in the process. Shake is Correctly billed (on their MySpace Page) as a “Motherfucking Rock and Roll Dance Party” in that the first part of the evening are all live bands. At approximately 11:30 or so the music switches to some pretty damned good DJ’s until the The Rogue Bar closes at 2:00 AM.
First off, the major negative of The Rogue Bar and going to Shake is finding the venue. For those of you who have had a hard time trying to find The Rogue Bar in the past know exactly what I am talking about. The problem with heading North on North Scottsdale Road from Highway 202 in Tempe is that the Addresses jump all over the place numerically. Secondly, is that there are not any signs or markings of where the Rogue Bar is at. It’s right next to a mini mart and the chances are you will drive right by it if you are not paying attention are REALLY high.
Just so everyone knows for future reference….
The Rogue Bar is on the corner of North Scottsdale Road and East Fillmore Street when you look it up on Google or those new fangled internet map sites.
I got to the Rogue Bar and paid my five dollar cover charge just as the evening’s festivities were getting underway. The first band to take the stage was Montresoros. I’ve never heard them play before and for the short time that they were on stage, I was pretty impressed. I’m pretty hard to impress when it comes to live shows as I’m not only a musician who has played around Seattle and in San Diego (mainly in Seattle) but I have pretty high expectations of what a really good live show should be. Montresoros is a pretty good live band and if you see them on any bill around the Phoenix area, check them out. You won’t be disappointed.
The next band up on the bill was Black Carl. If you are a frequent reader of AZ Vibe you all know I have a big man crush on this band. Why? Because Black Carl REALLY knows how to put on a killer live show. This is the main reason why Black Carl has their own dedicated Event Search Link in the right hand column of AZ Vibe.
Black Carl genuinely, from the last time I saw them this summer, have been working on bettering their craft and it showed during their set at The Rogue Bar. I’m not sure how long they’ve been around but the vibe they gave out Saturday night at the Rogue Bar was one like they have been playing together for a long time. Secondly, the characteristic of a REALLY good live band like Black Carl was that they were all visibly having a TON of fun playing that night at the Rogue. Whether they know this or not, the crowd REALLY fed off of that positivity and it made their performance better and better as the set went on.
The highlights of the set were not only the new songs (all I have is their EP at the moment) and their amazing covers of Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ and the Talking Heads ‘Psycho Killer’ (this cover really got the crowd into the show). By the time their set ended, Black Carl definitely left a solid mark not only on the Rogue patrons but on the Phoenix Music scene as an up and coming force to be reckoned with. This will especially come true if they keep getting better and better with their live shows.
If you ever see Black Carl on a bill around town they are absolutely a ‘MUST SEE’‘.
The Headliner of the Rock and Roll part of ‘Shake’ was ‘The Stiletto Formal’ and they started off with a BANG and a really killer driving groove. However, as the set went on, The Stiletto Formal’s set didn’t really go anywhere. I don’t know if they had an off night or they were trashed but they really need to work on their live show. The entire set was pretty one-dimensional as it sounded like they were playing the same Wolfmother song over and over and over again. I normally give bands a couple of chances before making a decision on whether or not they are worth seeing or not. I’ll check them out again in the future. Hopefully they can work the kinks out of their live show before I check them out again.
After ‘The Stiletto Formal’s’ set was finished and they took all their equipment off the stage, the next part of ‘Shake’ began. DJ’s. The Rogue Bar converts to a dance club and a bunch of DJ’s took turns (in approx 30 or so minute sets) throwing down the best jams for the crowd. The DJ’s I saw were pretty talented and were definitely keeping the vibe of the crowd in mind when they did their mixes.
One of the other things that was cool about ‘Shake’ is that they had a photographer there named Tate Hemlock that takes pictures during ‘Shake’ that captures the essence and coolness of the evening. The photos from this past Saturday night are not up yet but keep checking this link as it will be updated soon:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=198399562
All in all, ‘Shake’ at the Rogue Bar is an amazing and unique event that must not be missed. If you are a fan of music and want to try something new, ‘Shake’ is the thing for you. This edition of ‘Shake’ was the perfect combination of multiple styles of music rolled up into a mini festival. Shake is definitely a ‘MUST SEE’ event
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