The Vipers – November 10, 2012 – The Ballistics Rat Skate Stage, Houston TX

this band was the only one I saw that fit the general feel of the event – not only their sound, but also the skater ramp exactly behind the audience, putting audience members at risk of injury from flying skateboards – the ‘event’ was held in a decrepit neighborhood of warehouses – when I first arrived, there were some punkers milling about and what looked to be a rap video was being filmed on the corner (even down to two fly girls and a guy with fancy gold brass knuckles) –it was all very deserted and suspicious but then the crowd filled in and was pretty mixed, and the streets ended up being well lit and trafficked with walkers – nonetheless, I was still excited and felt like I had found a secret treasure trove of music – purportedly, the warehouse rooms slash stages also served as homes for some lucky/unlucky young souls – they did a good job of organizing things, advertising, making it happen – this show, in particular, seduced me to come in from outside with powerful female lead vocals (very Slits-like) – they were straightforward street punk, even down to the 1:30 songs – unfortunately, her vocals weren’t as prominent in the rest of the songs – my MusicSoulDoppleganger pointed out that the guy was relying on a very small set of power chords – the Latina drummer entranced me with her totally-nonhipster fuck-you intensity – again, online evidence doesn’t seem to match up so I may have the wrong band name (Houston!)