By Lisa Morgan
According to this band, they are a story that’s been told and retold time and time again: four friends in Southern California that drink a lot, love to travel and love to play music come together to…well, drink a lot, to travel and play music. “It would be easy to put Sic Waiting in the same category as all the other bands that fit this profile. However in over a decade of making hangovers, pushing records, playing sweaty bar rooms and riding in stinky vans, Sic Waiting has become much more than the standard SoCal punk band one might expect.”
The band name came from a split second decision by front man Jared Stinson while he was in a hospital waiting room tending to a sick friend. Pressured for a marketable name by a promoter for one of their first concerts, Jared came up with “Sic Waiting” on the fly whilst having the presence of mind to think that with dropping the “k” in the word “sick” it would be easy to trademark and copyright. As unremarkable as the story behind the band name may be, what is outstanding about this band is their longevity and “sick” work ethic. Notwithstanding changes in the players, the band has been “making ears bleed since 2000 AD” accounts Jared. “Sic Waiting is influenced by everything from punk rock, to metal, to doo-wop to James Taylor. We are a melting pot of knowledge and experience.”
Sic Waiting’s skate punk, rock songs with poignant, balls of brass lyrics, clean only in delivery, proceed the hypersonic drum and base lines signature to the 90’s style of the genre. While fitting the format, their music is far from recycled and stands uniquely on its own. The intentional rhythm changes are strategically placed to merely give its audience a split second of pause and breathe before it whips them back into a fresh, crowd popping frenzy. Meanwhile, no one has more fun during a Sic Waiting show than the band themselves.
The band has toured like madmen at times over the last decade in support of their albums, Your Name In Lights, Anchors Astray and their newest release on Dang!Records, Vices. The song “Lines in the Road” on the Vices album describes perfectly what drives these minstrels of mosh while at the same time captures the angst and anger of an unconventional genre and its zealots who generally resist stagnation and reject conformity:
“So where the f*** is the green grass? I’ve been around this town and every underpass; Searched to the best of my abilities. The best I can hope for now is the ground under the leaves under my feet. So let it be known that I’m coming home to the lines in the road where I belong. I found myself, on a long drive over county lines. Let it be known.”
“The band has played everything from street corners to clubs to festivals such as Warped Tour, Punk Rock Bowling, LiskFest, Way Out West Fest and Oyster Fest, and has played with icons such as Strung Out, H2O, Ignite, No Use For a Name, the Vandals, A Day to Remember, Against Me!, the Flatliners, A Wilhelm Scream, Death by Stereo and many more. Our national tour in 2011, aptly named the ‘Liver Die Tour,’ hit 32 states in just under 2 months, and those states are still recovering. We love playing live, driving long distances, hanging out in parking lots, drinking for free and making easy things difficult.” The band will be including Canada for the first time ever on this upcoming tour.
Sic Waiting consists of Brian Franklin on drums, Chris Glordano on bass, Dylan Blanton on guitar and vocals and Jared Stinson on lead vocals and guitar. They are currently writing and will be going into the studio soon to record a 7” vinyl on Sony Records along with friends DC Fallout who also recently rocked The Hood Bar. That project should be available sometime this spring. Sic will also be working on another full length EP set to be finished by the end of the year.
“We played The Hood earlier in our tour last year” shared Jared. “We really make it a point to make it part of our tour because we like what The Hood and Brandon Henderson (The Hoods live music manager) are doing out there. They’re doing what I’ve never seen done before. There have been venues and shows out that way, but nothing reliable like The Hood. It’s a great stop for us between San Diego and Arizona/Nevada.”
So there you have it; once again, the magic that is The Hood has ushered in a titillating line up for this weekend. Performing on the same stage as Sic Waiting is the high powered rock band Unwritten Law, a musical contingent who has sold over 2 million albums with half-a dozen radio hits. Even if you have all of Unwritten Law’s albums and can sing all their songs, you don’t know the band until you’ve seen them live. A third band, Drop the World, will also be displaying their popular skill set.
The show is $10 at the door and is 21 and over. Get there early, as almost 200 people have RSVP’d for these performances. The Hood is located at 74360 Hwy 111 in Palm Desert. See the information and web links for further information:
The Hood Bar and Pizza: (760) 636-5220 http://thehoodbar.com/
Sic Waiting: http://sicwaiting.com/
Unwritten Law: http://www.unwrittenlaw.com/
