Fists of Phoenix knows how to rock

I didn't know what to expect coming in to this thing. Even if I could have expected something, it wouldn't have been what I found -- a young local band with some great chops who blew the doors off a St. Louis alt-pop outfit.

The billing for Nov. 11's concert at Port Cape had for weeks read like this: "Gunderson w/Fists of Phoenix." I had heard the name Gunderson on St. Louis radio, so I figured they would be another regional indie act, coming in headlining with a local band opening. Nothing special, right?

I took my place amongst a collection of hipsters, oldsters and kids wallowing in their own coolness in the dark attic of Port Cape. The show was late getting rolling (in my buzzed state I think my watch read about 9:40 p.m.), but Gunderson finally came out on stage. Like even the smallest rock bands, Gunderson had its groupies, and they rushed the stage, some dancing to the upbeat rhythms.

Dancing must have been easy -- Gunderson's sound is that of a party-band, mostly feel good warm bubblegum. It's also very simple, which isn't always a negative thing.

In fact, there's something about Gunderson that creates this little mental tic, an image of a familiar face. Dave Grohl.

As Gunderson bounced along, breaking into a little jam at the end of their first number, I realized that it was the Foo Fighters I heard in that sound.

Chad Braun, lead guitarist for the rock group Gunderson, from St. Louis, performed with the group.

Of course, Foo is a band they would later cover, so it should be no surprise.

The band's sound is very fresh, very young. In fact, listening to Gunderson made me think about my own age. The songs sound like the kind of stuff you can hear on modern rock radio nowadays, the kind your teenage kid or sibling my listen to as they lock themselves in their room for hours. I speak from experience, only it was with Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails.

The strange thing was, they must be about my age because they were playing '80s songs like "Take On Me" (which was excellent). I was three sheets to the wind by that time, but I've always wanted to hear a rock band cover this song.

Emo-heavy is the defining characteristic of the Gunderson sound, an adolescent sound brimming with hormonal energy. Yet at times the band threw in a dark, brooding sound with a hushed dynamic. All in all, Gunderson was an alright show, but the music didn't come close to Fists of Phoenix.

When Fists of Phoenix first comes on stage, you think "Oh great, another little screamo/metalcore band comes out of the woodwork." That's largely because singer Daniel Seabaugh wears this hooded sweatshirt every time, real low, pulled over his eyes, and just kind of stalks around everywhere he goes. The appearance is that of someone wanting to be Chino Moreno.

But once the music starts, it becomes obvious that Fists of Phoenix are no joke. Granted, the alcohol was working its way through my system, and that of my friend Chris, but that can't explain why I was so blown away.

For those who haven't heard Fists of Phoenix, the music is somewhere in the realm of Avenged Sevenfold -- metallic rock built on skillful playing with a pinch of screamo thrown in for good measure. Imagine The Mars Volta conceiving a child with the Deftones and Incubus from the days of "S.C.I.E.N.C.E.", and you have something close to the bastard child known as Fists of Phoenix.

They show amazing musicality, making full use of dynamic contrast, intricate guitar rhythms and melodic, sometimes funky, bass playing. With a sound that sometimes churns like a freight train just beginning a run and sometimes goes at the full sprint of a Formula 1 car, Fists of Phoenix know their way around a song, and how to please rock nerds like me.

Not to mention the stage presence. Seabaugh has the look of some mad maestro, waving his hands and clapping them in the air above his head, swaying back and forth, doubled over as if in pain with massive screams and writhing on the floor like a taser is stuck in his chest.

And don't even get me started on the bassist. He hops around in some weird trancelike state, as if he has become the music that flows through his fingers. And he always smiles, a good quality in a rock musician, since you know he's having fun.

Yes, I went to Port Cape expecting to be unimpressed. What I found was that one of Cape Girardeau's youngest bands can easily hang with, and go beyond, an indie with more popularity, from a larger market.

The good music is here, you just have to open your eyes. Thanks for showing me that, Fists of Phoenix. Rock is alive in Cape Girardeau.