Saw two sets of Abinormal last night at Bulldog English Pub. I liked them, but I like other bands more that aren't nearly as good as these guys. Does that make sense?
It turns out that they have a large following without me, and their very appreciative fans packed Bulldog English Pub Saturday night. I have never seen so much picture-taking of a local band. The crowd actually worships this band. As many shots as the audience was buying them, it had to be fake liquor. If I had stayed longer, this would have been clear, because one of them would have passed out.
Miller is an excellent singer (he has clearly had lessons), but off-key at times in the first set. This is not unusual. Estorga, the drummer, looks like one of the managers at Crawdaddy's (has anybody ever seen them together?) Their production quality is superior. They have excellent sound, they are extremely cohesive, and interact with the crowd quite a bit. They could easily be the opening act on a major tour.
Estorga, the drummer, sings backup vocals. He is even more personable than the rest of the band, which is saying a lot. Something I really like is that both guitar players, Godfrey and Dominguez (who is blonde on their web site), play lead, and do some dual leads. Dominguez does some of the flash-bang style of playing, but fortunately, not exclusively. Seated at the bar, I could not clearly hear how well he was playing, but he seemed to be playing well. He does tend to play with three fingers, though.
I could see and hear Godfrey much better. He is not as loose as anybody else in the band - he doesn't even look up much - but I enjoyed watching him play. His no-nonsense style exudes a sense of command. I think that, if the building started collapsing, he would hold it together while everybody got out.
As I like to say, bass players don't get no respect. You really only notice them if they're out of tune, or really incompetent. You notice Guerrero, though, because of his dancing. This guy is really into the music. Good for him. Miller and Dominguez dance a lot, but not as much as Guerrero.
I like that they would start playing little bits of songs, seemingly impromptu. They are very self-confident, and very loose.
They played some Alice in Chains, as Estorga playfully reminded someone that belatedly requested it. They played the "Woo Hoo" song from the cellular commercials (BTW, it seems to actually be named "Woo Hoo"). If you go to their web site, you can hear snippets of five songs, which is kind of cool. Speaking of their web site, one slightly irritating thing about them is how frequently they mention their web site. And their CDs. And that you can download their songs for 79 cents.
There is one thing that I don't like about them: for all of their production quality and heaviness, they don't rock that much. I like plenty of music that isn't rock, but I expect rock music (more alternative, in this case) to rock. Still, I would very much like to see them again, in a bigger venue.
As for the venue: I wish to thank Bulldog English Pub for supporting live music. While not in the middle of nowhere, they are certainly on the edge of it. The club is small, but they manage to make it all work. One bad thing, though, is that there is no place to walk from there to kill a buzz. Make sure you don't drink too much before you leave. On the positive side, though, Joe Battle is patrolled by the Sheriff's Department. This is not a knock on them. You understand or you don't.
A big negative for me, though, is that the bartender was awful. I feel bad that I left her a tip. One thing about El Paso; poor bartenders and waiters, as well as rude receptionists, never seem to get fired.
As for Abinormal, this is one of the must-see bands of El Paso.
- Charles Hurley