Thursday Recap: Dead On Seven, Run Run Run, Royal Campaign

After spending the day with my family in Chula Vista (and a delicious dinner at Royal Mandarin on Bonita Road) I had to take a quick recharger nap and was on my way to San Diego Sports Club. I had been asked by a friend to "present" the show, but I wanted to clarify that I had nothing to do with the booking of the bands, in fact, I paid to get in. It was a favor for a friend and since I'd seen Run Run Run before I agreed. I'm only saying this because I've gotten e-mails about promoting shows and while it's something I might do in the future, I am not yet in the business of booking bands, shows, or anything like that.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised at the show. I met the guys from Run Run Run and grabbed a drink at the bar while watching the end of the Padres v Dodgers game. It had been a while since I'd been to the Sports Club. I talked to Tony and he's assured me that he's got a girl who is gonna take care of their MySpace page so I will have easier access to what's going on there for my show listings.

Eventually the first band started and holy shit- welcome to your new favorite local band.



The obvious comparison vocally would be the Smiths, but the music wasn't doom and gloom. The back up vocals added to the sound and I am glad to have seen them (finally).

The Sports Club has added several stage lights, but with that black curtain in the back and the lights shining a little too far down, my pictures of the entire night were abyssmal at best, so sorry for that. .



Nonetheless, I liked Royal Campaign a lot and the singer reminded me of Chris from the band Illinois (shown below). They said that their Sony CD burner was on the fritz, and joked that because of it, their CD won't be available in 2009. I'll be waiting.



Run Run Run played second and were playing here testing out new tracks for their upcoming tour. They didn't hold back on anything, bringing tons of stage lights and a fog machine. There is nothing that makes it worse for someone using a 6 megapixel digital camera than a fog machine.



Despite my crap photos, the show was energetic and the guys did their rock thing and the crowd was engaged. Plus, they're such a nice group of guys it's hard not to hope for their success when they hit the road.





Here's the setlist for Run Run Run, and special thanks to Xander for the t-shirt.



Calling this an "SD: Dialed In Presents" show seemed to have little influence on the amount of people there for the show. In fact, I don't think anyone came because I said to...instead, the majority of the crowd was there because everyone loves Ray, the singer of Dead on Seven, who made their San Diego debut at the Sports Club.



I thought they were great and I look forward to seeing them around town again, but with Tony pouring those ass kickin drinks behind the bar, I decided to call it a night before they finished their set. It was a great night of music and I was happy that I went. I especially look forward to more shows at the Sports Club now that their music suspension has ended.