By: Stacey Southworth
As if the summer heat was not enough we had one hell of a line up of bands to heat the night up even more. Everyone has been trying to stay out of the hot sun and stay in the shade but that did not seem to stop the crowd from braving heat exhaustion for this event. Last summer we were able to secure a spot for metal bands to be given the chance to play the fair. That is something we have not had for quite a while due to our unruly nature. We made such an impression they invited us back this year. I would have to say our turnout was even better this time around. We drew quite a crowd to check out this year’s line up, not only did the fans stick around for our local act's but there were quite a few spectators for the bands we brought from out of town as well. That seems a really good thing to me as I have noticed our locals are quite critical regarding their musical entertainment. Often times if the kids around here do not like a band it is immediately apparent as you will watch them depart after the local act. This did not seem to be the case tonight as I watched more and more people even a few non-metal heads stop in to see what was going on for the Second Annual Sizzling Summer Bash.
Auria Minus came up from Salida, Ca. to kick off our evening’s festivities with some alternative metal. With Guy Johnson on lead vocals, Rick Mendoza on Bass, Caleb Thacker and T.J. Hanson on guitars, and Gary Cordell on drums each of these gentlemen being former members of the bands Makeshift Grey, Needlework, and Unother. Guy’s vocals alternate between very melodic and semi aggressive. A style that seems to be popular right now, but Guy uses it adding his own kind of unpredictable twist not knowing of when to expect him to shift to which style next. Rick Mendoza’s bass has a moving and intense quality about it. Caleb Thacker and T.J. Hanson on guitars seemed to put out dimensions of ferocious hard rock and beautiful melodic attributes. Gary’s percussion lays down a path of solid tracks for the rest of the band to follow keeping them insync. I was particularly drawn to the song “Bleed” it was amazing to hear what high pitched melodies that came out in the vocals. The style on guitars reminded me of hard rock blended with a bit of progressive metal. Some of their other material presented today that caught my attention included “Fipronil” and “Visage”. I hear they play in Modesto from time to time I just may have to keep an eye on their show schedule to catch them again.
I do not have to tell you how much the fans in Merced love Stigmurder, it is apparent when Louie opens the show with lets all say Latunga and the entire crowd chants it back. I have been to many a Stigmurder show and these guys have made quite a large standing amongst the metal community here. Stigmurder had the opportunity of opening for Disturbed in Sacramento just a few short months ago; they are steadily climbing up the ladder of success in my opinion. Also having Jager as a sponsor they make sure their 21 & over fans walk away well supplied with fun gear. They had posters of themselves at the table and I watched as the band members had an overwhelming flow of kids who wanted their signatures. I have written quite a few past articles that will give you a more in-depth idea of what these guys sound like, mostly I would like to tell you about tonight’s performance. During the first part of their set they guys thought they would cool people off as they grabbed two buckets of water and drenched everyone within distance including a couple of the lights on the lighting rig (Fizz pop!). You could hear a pop as the lightbulbs blew. I think this is the loudest and clearest I have ever heard Stigmurder play. This act can be a quite intimidating force through their music. A couple of times a mosh pit would start up but we quickly reminded the moshers’ that there is a no moshing rule and we would get shut down. Once everyone settled down if you were watching the headbangers closely you could see the sweat flying off their heads with every motion. My only regret in seeing them was that I had hoped they were going to play the Johnny Cash tune “Ring of Fire”. I heard there would have been no controlling the pit if they did.
Absent Me stepped out of Sacramento to endure hells kitchen in Merced. Brian Rogers has a more powered and strengthened vocal range, Curtis Harvey’s guitars give you a more moodier breakdown than the two bands before them adding a crowd calming affect. There seemed to be a mesmerizing quality to jOb’s bass. Don Segur has very precise unrelenting beats on percussion. Though they have many other influences you can clearly pick up on the "Tool" influence here. One of their songs that drew my attention was “2wenty1” though at first I thought this was a cover tune, as it has the qualities of a song I had heard before, after going back and listening a second time I realized this was totally original. These guys have an amazing stage presence and drew in quite a few new fans tonight. I am still drawn to Brian’s vocals and the melodies represented here, not to mention his ability to hold a note. Another of their tunes that grabbed the crowds attention and mine was “Thin” I was surprised the fans were not ready for this set to stop. Absent Me put forth a very compelling and intense performance. Onlookers were happy that they traveled such a distance to perform for us tonight. 
Building up the anticipation 92.5 The Bear gave us a taste of what to look forward to with this next act by playing them several times throughout the week before tonight’s show, they are still receiving air play at least once a day. Not long ago Six-Ounce Gloves out of Fresno, Ca. played Manfest and I gave them a not so good review. I must say they changed my opinion tonight. I guess one of the contributing factors at Manfest was the sound guy kept fucking up all the bands sets by turning the sound up and down while the songs were being played. The wind factor did not help much either. Tonight we had no weather disturbances and a sound guy who knew what he was doing. Mitch’s vocals give us a rockin vibe and melodic tones only to be complimented by Chad and James addictive chord progressions on guitars.I did happen to mention in the Manfest review that Mitch is one hell of a front man. He really knows how to grab the crowds attention with action as well as using his vocal talent. Mike’s bass gives off a push of edgy power while Darren keeps very on time, precise and easy flowing drumbeats. Though “Flee” is the song being given all the radio attention I was particularly drawn to “Wide Open” this song has a world-class flow with brassy rhymes and an intense rock ambiance reminded me a bit of the song “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed. By this time of the evening a few people had started to migrate over from the main event. By the end of their set Six Ounce Gloves had everyone enthralled. I love it when I am present to see a band get up there and give their all to their fans. That is certainly what these guys do.
For all of those rock fans out there Gatja stepped up to close our evening giving you; that women can do anything kind of persona. Angela Wilder presenting us with edgy lyrics and vocals that sounds like a combination of Evanescence’s moodiness, Shirley Manson’s expressive nature, and Natalie Merchant’s unique alto vocals. Greg and Allen Willard both bring in harmonizing back up vocals and symmetrical rock style guitars. Jerome Zawolkow gives off a mellow drumbeat throwing a bit of intricacies in at random, and Tiffany Hamlet bleeds in with deep driving yet melancholy bass. One of their songs that really drew my attention was “Possible” the lyrics talk about being strong and having a dislike for weakness in your partner. Later on during their set they played a song called “Resilient Butterfly” in which I was really drawn more to the bass and guitar lines as they had a very bewitching quality to them. About this time I had started to notice a couple of girls in the crowd and the reception the band had gotten from them during their set. It looks as though Gatja had picked themselves up a couple of hardcore groupies. I heard the same two girls go up to Angela after their set and congratulate them on the performance tonight and ask for information that would keep them updated as to when they could see these guys again.I really want to tell everyone how much a success this gig turned out to be. Thanks to everyone we got our invite to come back. I know it is hard for a band that is a mosh band such as Stigmurder to keep the crowd under control but these guys did a good job tonight. Every band did an excellent job during their performances and the crowd was pleased. It was quite amusing to have Mikey from 92.5 The Bear keeping us all entertained in between sets (I think he was a bit buzzed). I had a lot of fun at this show I had been having a tuff week before and was relieved that everything went so smooth and that everyone seemed to be having a really good time. I saw a few of my friends pop in and though they are not real fans of this type of music they had also mentioned how the bands they stuck around for were really good and they are looking forward to who we have play next year.