Breaking The Sky, Thr3efold, Better Left Unsaid, The Word Kill
7/9/2004 The Mainzer Theater in Merced, CA
By Mike Vanek
After the tragic death of my Mom I have been so stressed out that I needed some time with my friends and a show so I could return to something normal. I walked down the street from my house to the magestic Mainzer Theater and went in the back door where The Word Kill was setting up. I chilled for a minute then started helping out in the set up process. This was a show that featured alot of friends that I have met through out the years covering local bands. Alot of people showed me their support and it is nice to have your buddies around when your not feeling all that great.
The first band was someone new to me. Fresno's Breaking The Sky opened the show with some great alternitive rock. These guys were full of energy and a cool band to watch if you enjoy the more mello sounding rock but I don't think they matched well with three metal bands.
Next was Thr3efold. Modesto's Thr3efold who recently became a full time band endorsed by Jagermeister came out and displayed their own unique brand of metal which got the night in to the heavier side of things. Opening their set with new material Thr3efold proved why they have been gaining swarms of new fans in towns and cities up and down California. Thr3efold has everything it takes to blow a crowd away and they had the packed Mainzer audience highly entertained and ready for a hardcore night of metal that was just started. With awesome songs that are uniquely their own like "Tolerate" "Stick In The Mudd" & "Respect" that always make any venue shake Thr3efold is definatly a band that will be known from sea to shining sea before to long! Look out for Thr3efold who will be playing new towns all summer including LA and The North West before too long. Big thanks to Thr3efold for letting me sing life and death with them.
Next was fellow Modesto natives Better Left Unsaid. I have covered this band ever since their birth in 2003 and they are well on their way to climbing the latter of success! With endorsements by Basson Cabinets, Shecter Guitars, EMG Pick Ups, Dickies Clothing among others and opening shows for many national acts BLU dosn't let success get to their head and they stay humble. Better Left Unsaid has become a well oiled machine and has a awesome musician at every position. Opening with Helmet's " Mean Time" which they have made their own it set the mood for the dark and heavy set they had for the packed Mainzer theater. With songs like "Conceiled Creation" & "Pick Up Line" BLU displayed an awesome stage presence and with crushing guitars, precison drums and bass, and vocals that brings it all together. I spent most of the night on the side of the stage. I was standing there with Nathan who's dad is Zeke of BLU. I was standing there and in between songs BLU's Jason Jones came up and told me "Your going to come out and sing Pick Up Line with us!" and just after that BLU vocalist brought me out and dedicated their new song to me! Then they played "Pick Up Line" and my Brother Lunchbox and I sat in with Better Left Unsaid to finish their set. These guys played one of the best set's I've seen them play and they showed a massive amoount of support and it means so much.
Last but not least was home town headliners The Word Kill. The Word Kill came out and finished a hardcore night of music the right way! With a stomping rythum section and a balls out lead singer that gets down and screams his heart out with every show The Word Kill has grown so much since they began recently. These guys get better with every show and their growing fanbase proves it. The Word Kill did their best to set up an awesome show and they did their best to finish it off in hardcore fashion. I think that their set was awesome and I have known some of the members for a long time and I think that this one of a small group of local bands that Merced CA can hang their hat on and with shows in Hollywood and beyond people can check out one of the 209's best new bands and I demand you go see them if your in search of great music.
Alot of people showed me alot of support through out the years and many of them were at this show and I must say nothing makes you feel better than a night with your best friends and great music!
