The 18th of July which was a Sunday, I was fortunate enough to buy some tickets to witness One Day As A Lion perform. The day of the show couldn’t come any faster, I was so anxious to see them live and to finally see in person the inspiring Zack de la Rocha.
My mother and I got to the Community Culture Center at 1:30 or about 2:00 I can’t remember to be honest. There was already a small group there about 15 – 20 people. Right when I got there I heard the band doing their sound check which was amazing! I was able to hear Wild International twice because of this.
The security guards told us where to line up and I moved quickly to get a good spot in line and I was about the 10th person. My Mom moved to a shade area and started to chat with another gal. Pretty soon the line ended up wrapping around the entire building! It was such a shock! I thought that moment that I was seriously lucky to have been so close to the front.
One thing I did notice is that there were a lot of Latinos there, many were speaking Spanish and about how the band would be playing a show that following Friday at the Hollywood Palladium.
I also noticed that there was a photographer there who was taking pictures and I think my Mother and I came out in a few but I told her to not look directly at it because candid shots are always better than posed.
Finally, after waiting in the blazing sun for what seemed like an eternity (about 2 hours) security finally started letting us in by sections. Once we got in we were relieved to feel that the center provided air conditioning. THANK GOD! If not we would’ve died of heat stroke, seriously.
We walked in and we got our hands stamped which instantly smeared seeing that it was still hot with all the body hot.
Mother and I were able to get into a great spot. We were in the second row to the front which was great for a small intimate show. I believe it was about thirty minutes until the opening band first came out.
The first band that came on was the Holloys. Their first song was interesting in a positive way; it was definitely different than most bands out there which is always a plus. By the fourth song, I was already anxious to see them get offstage. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so anxious! I tried moving to the music to try and ease my tension but it really didn’t help at all. To top it off, the dudes that were in front of me where so freakin’ tall so I could hardly see the actual band except for their heads. It was frustrating. After forty-five minutes the band finally concluded their set and ended with a few words thanking De La Rocha, Theodore, and the staff for allowing to play with ‘em and for the DIY style.
The moment was closer; every five minutes that passed by I thought, ‘Soon. Just a few more minutes.’ Then I heard the cheers from the audience and I knew de la Rocha was walking up to the one foot stage accompanied by John Theodore and the keyboardist. I turned to my Mom and gave him a toothy grin, the moment was finally here.
Majority of the crowd watched in silence as we saw the trio set up for their 45 minute set. Few from the crowd would yell out comments “La raza!” Or “Needs more cowbell” which earned the audience a grin from de la Rocha and my Mom. It was definitely a great surprise from the audience. Before the trio began, de la Rocha made a statement saying, "Good Afternoon. To remind all you guys with this uh, these cell phones and these things [video recorders] that there are people behind you and that YOU are actually here. This is live."
I recognized songs off the EP like "If You Fear Dying" especially since I fancied the line "I'm like Fela with my heart in Venezuela / It's a world favela so fuck the novela...."
I must say that the one other time I was literally right in front of a singer, I immediately became intimidated. I felt so little and insignificant that I felt like I HAD to move towards the side. However when it came to this show, I felt nothing similar of that. I took the time to drink in his profile. Just seeing de la Rocha in person mesmerized me, and let alone seeing him do his thang gave me shivers. de la Rocha is one little man with a strong voice. His profile is organic with a simple buttoned up shirt, black pants, and seven dollar shoes. Not to mention, his signature hair style was beyond words. I swear it could have its own website.
Seeing as this was my first time experiencing a show like this (meaning it wasn't a punk show with rowdiness) I wasn't quite sure how to "rock out".
At first I was just bobbing my head to the beat and then it was shortly later that I started to feel the beat and lyrics. I did fist pumps at the appropriate times like, "And you're already dead!" de la Rocha has some amazing vocal practice considering I couldn't rap for more than 5 stanzas 'cause after that I'd have to have a long intermission for breathing!
"Last Letter" was an interesting live number. It's a good song lyrically but musically it seems to be all over the place. There isn't a steady beat per say but it's a great hand banging song! I'd like to blame this number in particular for my splitting headache after the show.
I watched de la Rocha for majority of the set but I tried watching Master Theodore for a while. His skills amaze me! He beats like crazy!! Kudos, Theodore, KUDOS! What I observed from him is that he's more of a follower (not in a negative way) meaning that he would always be ready to play, always set. Before a couple of songs he'd comment to de la Rocha, "I'm ready whenever you are."
In "Last Letter" it was great seeing de la Rocha completely break out of his shell. He was jumping all over the place and head banging without looking! He was just feeling the music going crazy! I confess that I was a bit worried at certain points I was afraid he was going to fall off the tiny stage or knock something over. This was definitely another great head banger track.
There were new songs included in the set list. It was during these songs that I was able to watch the entire band. The songs sounded great and the microphone de la Rocha sang in with the keyboard sounded more clearer; a positive. The keyboardist got into the grove as well. I’d never seen anyone rock out on keyboards so it was a hoot watching him rock out on those keys. Very cool.
“One Day As A Lion” was a fantastic live track! My eyes did not leave de la Rocha and it was great watching him sing out some of my favorite lines off this track like, “Faced flame for five centuries / And if LA were Baghdad we'd be Iraqi” ; “After dark my city's a fuse / One day I say today we live as a lion” ; “You a minuteman wait a minute man / Talk like that might limit your life span.”
The latter quote especially touched my heart. While singing those two stanzas, de la Rocha had a huge grin plastered on his face. It was great witnessing that genuine smile; it made me feel like he was proud of that moment we all shared. Only a few of those heart touching moments occurred that night and I was lucky enough to notice them.
If I remember correctly ‘Wild International’ was the last song of their set. I was waiting for this track the whole time and once the first beats were played I couldn’t help but hesitate to make sure it was the Wild International. My heart fluttered once I realized that it really was that song.
Unfortunately that was the last song they played for the night but at least they went out with a bang! The guys said their thank yous and walked off stage. De la rocha took off immediately and I'm not sure where the other guys walked of to.
It was definitely a great ending and they had great success that afternoon. Definitely an epic afternoon and it's definitely one of the highlights of my summer '10.
I love conversing with humans who are so genuine and motivating. There needs to be more humans like this wonderful being.