SarosThe Eagle Tavern, San Francisco
August 27, 2009
It was with a heavy Metal heart that Umlaut made his way to The Eagle on this night. After 5 years, Saros had announced they were playing their final show with Tim on bass and would be going on a hiatus for perhaps as long as a year...
Although The Eagle has hosted shows regularly over the years, the last time I was there was during the Clinton Administration for a Tranny fashion show with my old roommate (Hey Jayne!). Given the magnitude of the show, the Umlaut Nation was out in force... so a shout out to Joey, Johnny, Photo Ray, Jason, Rafa, and Dave. It was also cool to see members of those other S.F. Metal heroes Ludicra, Hammers Of Misfortune, Black Cobra, and Acid King out supporting Saros on their special night; it takes a village for a Music Scene to be Metal.. and tonight the core of the S.F. Metal Scene was in the house.
This show was bittersweet since Saros are one of my favorites and it's always more fun to support a local band. They opened with their almighty classic 'F Subzero' and tore through a 45 minute set that showcased the band's hybrid of Classic Metal and shape-shifting Prog Rock with Tim holding down the bottom end one last time.
During the set there was some nice Metal show drama down at the front when a dude got a little out of hand and sent a Metal Lady's beer flying all over those around her, including Umlaut. Not one to stand down from such an afront, the Metal Lady demanded, and received, a replacement pint from the dude. Don't take no shit in The Pit!
After Saros had played their last song the band started to tear down their equipment, but the crowd that had filled the space between the stage and the bar would not leave or relent in their calls for an encore. In what will be one of my favorite gig moments of the year, Leila took her SG back out of its case, the band plugged back in, and they played one final song with Tim... a solid version of 'Collapse Of The Tower'. NICE! They say a picture is worth one thousand words, so here's 2,000 blurry words on Saros:
'Collapse Of The Tower'
I've ranted about Saros more eloquently in past posts, so click HERE and HERE to read what I've previously said about the band because it still rings true. Although the word "hiatus" always strikes fear in my heart when it's connected with a band, at least Leila will be busy with Amber Asylum as they support their latest album, but more on that in 24 hours.
According to the Umlaut Archives this was the 6th time I'd seen Saros.. and hopefully it won't be the last. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called us fags. Here's to Saros and I hope the band rises from their hiatus like the fiery Phoenix in the not too distant future..
