The Band:
Ernie Avila - drums
Dave Rojas - bass
Kiff Payne - guitars
Adam La farelle - guitars
Gil Alvarado - vocals
3/4/05
The Venue
When I first arrived, Tension was playing the last song of a set. To my surprise, they were playing some hardcore tune. Gil told me later that their fans, the Stupids, had requested it. Over the course of the show, they played about 10% hardcore, with most of the rest being heavy metal.
I noticed two things pretty quickly: Gil's voice had a thick reverb added to it, and there was a terrible humming noise coming out of their equipment.
Singers that don't sing well get their voices distorted. If I were singing, they'd need distortion. For that matter, they might consider lip-synching me to Ashlee Simpson's voice. Gil, however, seems to have a really nice voice. Mystery number one.
The source of the hum wasn't clear, but the band members felt that it was originating with something in The Venue. As this is a new club, maybe that was the case. They didn't figure it the three hours that I was there. Mystery number two.
Tension has a full-time sound man working with them on their shows. He was very visible. While the sound was fairly clean when I got there, it grew more and more distorted while I was there. I don't know what the cause of this was, but it got so bad that I could almost hear only the bass and drums. Mystery number three.
I guess this might not bother a lot of people, but I pay attention to the details, and not being able to hear what the guitar players are doing is a major bummer for me.
Still, Tension is a pretty cool band. They are very friendly, and work the crowd in between sets. In fact, Gil spends about 25% of his singing wandering through the crowd. They cultivate their fan base, and they have great fans. Props for The Stupids!
Another thing I learned about Tension: not only is Ernie an excellent drummer, but his backup vocals are quite nice. Gil's voice is rather throaty, and Ernie's is just the opposite - kind of twangy. The contrast between the two singers was a pleasant surprise.
Tension played songs by Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies, and Gil sounded a lot like David Lee Roth on Van Halen's "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love."
The venue, The Venue, is still a work in progress. They have no carpet on the floor, and only about a third of the number of tables and chairs they could have used. There is still a large open space - maybe they want to have yoga classes in the mornings.
Additionally, they had no waitress, but that's not much of a problem for me. Behind the band, they were projecting a surfing video when I got there. They do the same thing at Vallare's downtown. Maybe The Venue is thinking about becoming a discotheque. Toward closing hour, the surfing video had ended, and they were showing Scarface. Too bad they didn't start it an hour earlier. And, no, I don't mean I had already seen the surfing video.
Due to the distortion, I really have no idea how good the guitar players were, but Tension seems like a pretty damn good band. I just hope I can hear them better next time.
- Charles Hurley