Retro-review: Hopesfall/Engine Down/Since By Man

Since I'm not going to a show today as planned, I thought I'd go back in time a little and review a show I saw last month:

12/5/04 The Ottobar, Baltimore
Hopesfall/Engine Down/Since By Man

Since By Man
First time seeing/hearing this band and the overall impression was really good. Good, solid hard rock with the occasional scream by the blazer-wearing singer (Sam). It was Sam's birthday so there was a lot of drinking throughout this show which was amusing on the whole. They had some cool shirts for sale too. I would definitely see this band again.

Engine Down
Also first time seeing/hearing this band. I should have guessed by the increase in the number of females in the audience what the music was going to be like....hmmm....They had a light show...that was cool. Overall I thought it was a good performance and the crowd seemed into it, but it was not my thing. I guess I'm just not very .emotional.

.hopesfall.
Third time seeing this NC band and it was my first time hearing songs from their latest release "A-Types" (out now on Trustkill Records!) .hopesfall. played an excellent set, seamlessly mixing old and new songs, and engaging the small (but devoted) crowd.
[The crowd loses one point, though, for that dude who was yelling something about seeing the band 7 times and later jumped all over Jay and did a hard-core-show style stage dive, which totally didn't fit into the overall vibe.]
I picked up A-Types after the show and it's a great album: musically, it maintains the 'spacey' quality of their earlier records yet evolves with more clear singing and more musical craftsmanship. Anyway, I like it and I can listen to it at work without headphones, which is always a positive.