The Winter Sounds, Faceheads, Among Trees @ Bordz Skatepark 4/2/10 When I read that The Winter Sounds, one of my favorite bands of the last few years, was going to be playing at an indoor skate park in Southampton, PA, I knew I had to check this show out. Non-traditional venues for concerts always intrigues me, and Bordz Skatepark managed to live up to the expectation. Arriving in Southampton early, my wife and I found a nice restaurant, Maggio’s (www.maggiosrestaurant.com), with a wonderful veggie burger, something that I do not say often. My wife also suggested stopping at Comic Collection, just outside of Southampton in Feasterville, and boy was I glad she did as they have a wonderful selection of recent back issues and I was able to find issue 2 of Groo: Hogs Of Hoarders, which I could not find in NJ (side note: Groo: Hogs Of Hoarders is a hysterical funny four issue miniseries which is a brilliant allegory to the US’s involvement in Iraq, and our bank loan crisis). There was also a nice state park nearby, although we found the trails a little too muddy to walk on on this particular day. Oh well, maybe next time. We even stumbled upon a nearby Goodwill Thrift Store where I picked up some amazing CDs. But we were there for a concert, and the concert was in a unique place of it’s own. Arriving at Bordz early, my wife and I had a chance to chat with the husband and wife who own the skate park, and they were extremely nice people. I got the feeling these were people who were really trying to have a cool place for teens to hang out, that was safe and fun. For those wondering, teens were almost the entire audience there, and all I could think was how cool it would have been to have an all ages venue like this for live music when I was a teen. The actual skate park floor was smaller than I expected (they are looking to move to a larger location). But still a decent size for skateboarders to enjoy, and a great sight to behold. However, the skate park floor doubles as where the audience stands, or sits on the ramps, to enjoy the bands, so I did not get to see any skateboarding. First up for the night was the band I had traveled nearly an hour and a half to see, The Winter Sounds. Since the last time I’ve seen these guys they have streamlined down to a three piece, with lead singer Patrick playing keyboards, and at times, bass. Clayton, plays guitar and bass, and Ryan on the drums. This is also where I have to talk about the only negative aspect of Bordz. Their sound equipment is not the greatest, it kind of reminded me of some basement shows I have been to. During the first half of The Winter Sounds set their vocals were lost in the wall of sound that they create. Switching mics midway through the set did partially fix the problem, but the vocals still sounded distorted from over amplification. This problem was less noticeable during the second band which had a much quieter sound. My hope is that when Bordz is able to move to a larger location they will also be able to upgrade their sound system a little. In the meantime, bands playing there should turn down their amps (and drum a little softer), so as to not blowout the mic system. The Winter Sounds still managed to put on a good set, and played a lot of new material from an album they hope to record this year. Up second was the Faceheads, consisting of a vocalist, a guitarist, and a musician who alternated between trombone and cello. It was an interesting combination, but one that seemed to be missing something. Be it percussion, bass…or something else entirely, the band seemed to not quite be whole. But, the musicians seemed quite talented, and they are young, so I hope they continue to develop. As my wife and I were talking with Patrick from The Winter Sounds outside, we saw that Among Trees had started playing in the center of the skate park, unamplified. They sounded quite good, and I wish we could have stayed for more of their set, but we had a long ride home, so we decided to say goodbye to Bordz for now, but I think we both intend to return. In spite of my criticism of the soundsystem, it was still a very cool place. Kudos to the owners (whose names I sadly didn’t get even though we spoke to them for awhile), for creating a cool place for all ages shows. www.myspace.com/bordzpa www.thewintersounds.com www.myspace.com/amongtreesmusic