Meese
Photographer David Endicott and I arrived to The Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard at dusk on Thursday, June 16th to find Nate Meese and Mike Ayars of the band Meese taking a smoke break outside of the venue. I introduced myself and we chatted a bit about the venue and Sunday night’s show with Copeland. Immediately I could tell that these dudes were humble and down to earth and I was impressed with how genuine they were. After a quick sound check, Meese and Ayers along with other Meese (Patrick) and Ben Hayley joined me on Sunset outside the venue to chat about where their band has been and where it’s going. You can check out the interview [here].
After sincere “thank you” s all around, the boys headed into venue and David and I checked in and headed up the stairs to an almost pitch black bar/venue decked in true Hollywood rock style.
Meese (not the plural of Moose) took the stage and opened with the first song off their record “Forward Motion” in which frontman Patrick pleads “I’m okay with the darkness coming for me” with such intensity that shows on his face. The song builds and crescendos into the breakdown of full rock glory with Nate’s guitar solo, steady, infectious bass drum beats and heavy bass backed by electronic strings. The band commanded the audience’s attention right off the bat and even those who had just stopped in for some beer were moving to the beat.
The set continued on high energy and when it came time for the band to play their new single “Next in Line,” the venue was tapping their feet to the boom-chuck of the guitar and bass in harmony. Even their ballads like “Taking the World On” built in intensity into a crashing rock-out breakdown behind the soft piano. The vocal harmonies between Mike and Partrick on the heartfelt slow jam “Movie Screens” were gorgeous and kept me wanting more. The last song the band dedicated to a friend in the audience getting married. The piano rock “The Quiet Side” has sincere lyrics and soaring vocals that rise above a power pop chorus to pounding keys, building guitar riffs, and reverberating drums.
Meese ended exactly as they finished—strong and full of energy, except now to a captive audience. It is their kind of musicianship, the kind that performs each song to its pinnacle, that makes Meese an amazing band live. Don’t think that they aren’t fantastic on their new album Broadcast, because they really are. However, if you have a chance to see Meese perform, whether it’s with The Fray and Jack’s Mannequin or with Barcelona and Seabird, catch them out on the road this summer and you won’t be disappointed.
Hailing from California’s Bay Area, Like the Ocean has just completed their first full-length album entitled, The Endless and Unseen. Band members Eric Padilla (guitar/vocals), Jared Duke (bass), John Miller (guitar/vocals), and Kenny Padilla (drums) derived their aquatically-themed name from a lyric in their song “This is the Moment:” “sway and swell like the ocean.”
There is one word that comes to mind when I think of Like the Ocean’s music: contagious. Their melodies, their instrumentals are all extremely and consistently contagious. 
