Ferox, 14 Clicks, Dead By Wednesday, Straight Line Stitch
Station 4 St. Paul, Minnesota
November 7, 2012
by: Stephenie Thue
Station 4, a popular underground venue, was where I had the privilege of seeing one of my most favorite female lead singers – Alexis Brown of Straight Line Stitch. this girl is not only an amazing singer, but she can scream too, like many of the others on my top female rockers list. I won’t lie, my initial thought for the night was that I was going to be taking the night off and just enjoy the show, but it was one of the best shows I have been to in a long time, so of course I had to share it with my readers.
The nights line-up consisted of local bands Ferox and 14 Clicks, Dead by Wednesday, and Straight Line Stitch ending it. The doors opened at 5, with Ferox up first. Station 4 is a bar with a lower level for shows with a stage. Only major downfall about the venue is the giant pole in the front of the stage, blocking a lot of the view depending on where you stand.
Ferox takes the stage, excited to be opening for Straight Line Stitch. These local boys were hard-core, with Eddie playing a 7-string guitar. They were probably the heaviest band on the set, but were clearly having a lot of fun with their local fans, teasing the crowd with fast guitar riffs and the double bass shaking the walls. Their friends and family came to the show, singing along with them and all around having a great time cheering with everyone between songs.
After Ferox’s crazy performance, they were taking down their equipment, and I noticed a female getting things ready for the next band, and I was instantly excited. 14 Clicks, also from Minnesota, had a female lead singer. She had to prove herself to make it to my rocker list, but she seemed eager to show her talent. As the lights turned down, 14 Clicks made their way onto the stage, ready to get the very small crowd pumped for the highlight of the night – Straight Line Stitch. They opened with “Hollywood Liars” and the lead singer Nastacia belted the words out flawlessly. She has a very unique voice, and she knows how to use it. As their set continued, Nastacia began to unwind more and began head-banging with the crowd. As 14 Clicks finished up their set with “Fists”, I realized that even though there were only 15 people here, the show was going to be one for the books. After their set, I sat down with Nastasia, and we set up an interview for later. They are currently taking the holidays off to spend with family, but I was glad to find out that they will be working on a 6-song EP at the beginning of the year. 14 Clicks’ main focus for right now is to create a strong online-presence, and they are starting slowly with one lyric video for “Hollywood Liar”. They also plan on touring regionally, and they just did a show December 1st for a food drive in St. Paul.
Members:
Nastacia – Vocals
Dave – Guitar
Justin – Guitar/Vocals
Jonny – Drums/Vocals
Ryan – Bass
Set List:
Hollywood Liars
Iconic Copies
Closer
White Screen
Falling Faster
The Fire
One shot
Fists
After a surprising performance, Dead By Wednesday took the stage. I had heard of them awhile back, so I was interested to see how they sounded live. They opened the set with “God-like Feeling” and Joe had the room filled with energy. The members of 14 Clicks and Ferox joined the crowd in head-banging and even a few mosh crowds were formed. After a few more songs, the crowd was warmed up, and a few were even singing along. As Dead By Wednesday finished their set with “Pawns”, the 15 of us were screaming with eagerness for Straight Line Stitch, filling the venue with noise.
Members:
Joe – Vocas
Opue – Drums
Mike – Bass
Ross – Guitar
Set List:
God-like feeling
Swallow, Chew, Spit
Left For Dead
Will to Fight
Killing Project
Domination
All The World
Pawns
While Dead By Wednesday were tearing down, I chatted with the lead singer Joe, setting up my interview. The rest of the tour would take them from Illinoise to Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and a few stops in between, ending in Georgia just before Thanksgiving. They plan on staying home for the holidays and coming back in the spring with hopes of a new record, with their last one being released September 2012. I asked what the craziest thing that has happened while performing, and Joe responded, “A guy that comes to a lot of our shows started mosh pitting, and literally jumped on a guy and snapped his leg. You could see bone and everything sticking out.” Thanks for not going into more details, Joe, I don’t think my stomach could have handled that.
The final band of the night was the reason why we were here – Straight Line Stitch. The lead singer Alexis Brown took the stage, and everyone instantly broke out into cheers and whistles. They opened their set with “Conversion”, and many people in the crowd, including myself, started singling along. Alexis sounded amazing, so it was a shock to us all when they announced that their set would be cut short due to her being very sick. I was sad, so I shouted “Play ‘What You Do To Me'”, and she said “I’m sorry, we just cut that song from our set,” I responded “I drove four hours to hear that song”. She caved, and sagt it anyways. And no, Alexis, you nailed that song, even if you were sick. They ended their set with “Black Veil”, and the crowd definatly wanted more, but I was content since they played “What You Do To Me” just for me.
At the end of the night, I met the entire band, having them sign my set list and making Alexis add my song to the set. I also set up an interview with her. They have a new tour starting up in December called The December Disaster Tour, and they are also doing a toy drive along with the shows. After the tour, they are going to take time off in January to begin writing a new record, too. I asked her if she could pick the perfect line up to perform with who would it be? Her response “Deftones, Glassjaw, 36CrazyFists, Devil Driver, As I Lay Dying, and Tool.” I would love to see Straight Line Stitch perform with As I Lay Dying, that would be amazing.
Members:
Alexis – Vocals
Jason – Bass
Ian – Drums
Andrew – Guitar
Set List:
Conversion
Never See The Day
Laughing in the Rearview
Taste of Ashes
Sound of silence
Bar Room Brawl
Tear Down The Sky
Black Veil
Special Encore
What You Do To Me
So, as you can read, my night was unforgettable, and I still have “What You Do To Me” stuck in my head. But, the real question still remains: Did Nastasia make my top female rocker list? You’re damn right she did, and she is becoming a friend too.
