By Amber Shaffer, SDAM Staff Writer
©Copyright 2008 SDAM.com/Amber Shaffer

Nothing like starting the night off by getting harassed by a musician. As my friend and I walked toward The Scene, the singer from a local metal band spotted me and hollered "Thanks for missing my show. AGAIN." She was laughing as it's a running joke, spiked with some malice, because her band is the only one I've given a negative review to and she keeps inviting me to other shows for a second shot, and I had now missed them open for SpineShank. In my defense, I had just come from joining another SDAM writer for an interview with The Transit War at The Casbah. A writer's work is never done. SpineShank is a band I saw a couple times in 2001 when they were touring for their last album, The Height of Callousness. The first time I saw them, I had no clue who they were. They were opening up for my at-the-time favorite band Orgy. Usually during supporting acts on small tours (800 person venues), the audience is impatient to see the headliner and are at best, politely attentive to the openers. That was not the case for SpineShank. Even though their nu metal sound was harder than that of the headliner, the audience immediately took to them and I believe that was the first time I ever strained my neck from pseudo-headbanging. I liked them so much, I bought an album and made sure to catch them a few months later when they were on tour with Mudvayne and Disturbed, two bands I could do without. SpineShank are currently out supporting the upcoming release of their third album, Self Distructive Pattern, which drops July 15th. My music tastes have evolved a bit since 2001, although I still love to rock and have a weakness for boys in make up and red contacts. I approached this show like I would checking in on a friend I've grown apart from: didn't want to hang out, but I wanted to see how they're doing. The crowd was young, sparse, and mostly male except for some band girls and the tiniest fan-girl I've ever seen who really wanted to tear it up in the pit. But I could tell the boys were being too polite to satisfy her every time she jumped in. I was disappointed with the sound. I didn't know half the songs on SpineShank's set list that night, but I was looking forward to hearing the two big ones of the last album, "New Disease" and "Synthetic", and the sound was so poor I could hardly even follow lyrics that I knew. Despite the small crowd and poor sound, the band put their best forward and I have to admit, I was impressed by the energy in the pit. Singer Johnny Santos and bassist Rob know how to get the crowd fired up, just like they did for me a few years ago. But tonight I milled at the outer-edge of the pit with my out-of-place indie lovin' pal mildly rocking and singing under my breath, but mostly we just cracked metal jokes, people watched, worked on a drawing of my faux band Tatuzler, and wondered if Santos knew whether he was in San Diego or San Bernadino. Because there's such a huge difference. SpineShank