Bang Tango @ Empire 6/27/2012

Bang Tango @ Empire 6/27/2012

I went to see Bang Tango last night @ Jaxx/Empire. Max 20 people there. Including me, and maybe some people with the band. I think this was probably the worst attended show (besides Anvil- also at Jaxx) I've been to. King Belvedere, a local band from MD opened for them. They sounded alright. Kind of like a cross between Dangerous Toys, AC/DC, and Sebastian Bach. Nothing amazing, but nothing horrible. It was pretty rough, looking at the crowd (or lack thereof) for Bang Tango, but what could you really expect for a Wednesday night show, not too much promotion, and a um..D level hair band (not to say that I don't love Bang Tango, cause I totally do. Hell I came and paid my $15 to see them!).

Before and as King Belvedere was playing I was sitting at the bar, talking to the cute, busty bartender. And then some guys come up and ask for shots. And I noticed that "hey you're that  guy from that band I came to see!" And I got a quick horrible picture of me and Joe Leste. Not a groundbreaking achievement, but still cool. For us die hard Bang Tango fans. About 5 minutes later, Bang Tango took the stage!

Joe and the band sounded very good, and they had a way better setlist than they did at M3. Joe sounded better also, his usual raspy self. He def had been drinking, and his on stage banter ranged from asking for shots from the busty bartender to her rack to why no Beautiful Creatures songs. one other vocal fan said something about them not playing Dressed up Vamp or Dancin' on Coals (both were highlights for me), and then Joe and Co. played them. I don't know if they were going to play those songs anyway (try finding other people who go to Bang Tango shows and post setlists!), but that seemed pretty cool. Their bass player was def the same one who's been with them for a while, I couldn't really recall about the guitarist or drummer tho. No complaints really sonically. It sounded good to me and I banged my head accordingly. Me and a couple other BT fans were the most energetic.

At one point, Joe announced that they were going to play a song by another band. I shout "is it Beautiful Creatures?" He said NO and proceeded to joke that they would have to play songs from [the guitarists' old band I  presume] if they did that. A bit later, he pointed at my UFO shirt and rambled about talking/drinking/sitting with Phil Mogg. Cool. I do recall them doing a UFO cover (Lights Out) at some previous show, as a side note.

Look, I enjoyed the show, but it seems to me that Jaxx/Empire would loose money on a show like this. Why didn't Bang Tango get on some package deal with another hair band- they would draw at least double the people I would think. On the way out, the advertized $20 Great White tickets ($25 presell, $30 DOS). So I grabbed one (UPDATE: due to the power outages and such, the show was canceled :(  ). The guys in the band were very gracious and I think they really appreciated people coming out to support them. I wish more people came out :/  I wonder how the Ottobar show (the next day) went. 

Bang Tango had some shirts, a new CD ($12, maybe I shoulda got that one?), and a few more items.

Photos:
http://metalcowboy.tumblr.com/post/26424800035/stevesnack-6-27-2012-bang-tango-i-saw-bang
http://metalcowboy.tumblr.com/post/26425033257/stevesnack-6-27-2012-bang-tango-ii-bang-tango
http://metalcowboy.tumblr.com/post/26425007796/stevesnack-6-27-2012-bang-tango-iii-bang-tango

Set List

• Ready to Go
• Attack of Life 
• Love Injection
• Dick in the System
• Our Way
• 20th Century Boy (T. Rex cover)
• Bring On The World
• Dressed Up Vamp
• Dancin' on Coals
• Soul to Soul
• Breaking Up a Heart of Stone
• Live Life
• Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover) 
• Don't stop
• Someone Like You

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bang-tango/2012/empire-west-springfield-va-2bdf78a6.html