Jason Cruz Strung Out

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Strung Out

with The Flatliners, Pour Habit and Boy Prostitute

October 8, 2009
Culture Room
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Review and Photos by: Ashleigh Ahern

       Aside from a large van sitting out front and two people running in and out of the open door of the Culture Room, you would have thought there was no show going on that night. People finally began to arrive fifteen minutes before doors opened.

       Twenty minutes later, once sound check was done, Boy Prostitute took stage to a pretty much empty crowd. The few people who were there early and had no interest in them took their places along the walls and upstairs, leaving the floor pretty much empty. It remained empty until friends of the band came in and took their place in front of the stage. A few people on the floor took this as a hint and slowly began to fill up the floor. Despite the lack of crowd enthusiasm, Boy Prostitute didn’t seem to be too fazed.

       Pour Habit was next to take stage, and when I say they took the stage, I mean they owned the stage. Their energy was infectious, especially that of lead vocalist, Chuck Green, as he galloped and brayed like a horse and jumped onto the floor of the crowd, singing directly to and staring down fans. Green continued through the set, joking and playing around with guitarists Eric Walsh and Shaun Nix, ending his performance with a head-stand. After a performance like this, it’s hard to imagine the show getting better.

Not only had the typical mosh pit formed, but a second pit had formed for the die-hards, where fists were pumping, voices were singing/yelling along to every unintelligible word sang, and everyone was pushing to get closer to lead singer Jason Cruz.

Jon Darbey, bassist of The Flatliners

The Flatliners seemed to be the first band that the audience truly cared to see. One kid in front of me was the epitome of this as he jumped up, pretty much on stage, and sang along with singer and guitarist, Chris Cresswell, as he was threatened to be kicked out by security. The still-fairly-small crowd was interested at this point as everyone seemed to gravitate towards the front while maintaining breathing room between them and whoever was around them. The highlight of their set had to be when the same kid that had been threatened bolted as the Flatliners began their third song, smashing into multiple people as he ran around the room several times, and then returned to his original spot in front of his friends who were dying of laughter.

BoyProstitute

As the lights dimmed and the crowd packed in, the guys of Strung Out jumped into their set; this seemed to be the performance that everyone had been waiting for. Not only had the typical mosh pit formed, but a second pit had formed for the die-hards, where fists were pumping, voices were singing/yelling along to every unintelligible word sang, and everyone was pushing to get closer to lead singer Jason Cruz. The songs flowed into each other, making it hard for me to tell when one was beginning and the next was ending, but this didn’t matter to the crowd or me. The energy from the band carried the show with strong riffs and pumping drum beats, giving that perfect punk show experience that I had been looking forward to for weeks, even if I was barely able to make out a single lyric that had been sung by the band.

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