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When Mike Garrett of Rockshow Booking decides to jump on a cause, he generally does so with both feet first and a ton of weight piled on to try and make sure the impact is massive.  More often than not Garrett comes away with the desired results but as is life, nothing is certain in rock & roll.  Such was the case with this past Wednesday’s “Save the Shitter” show at Sector 7G.  Great cause, great bands, great fun.  All that was missing was the great crowd.

Despite turning into essentually a rehearsal for friends, the bands rocked on (the great ones all commite themselves to the fight-the good AND the bad) and in the end the few in attendance were privy to a personal performance by two great up and coming area bands, Baldwin and Blurring the Line.

Originally created as a solo outlet for vocalist / guitarist Jason Hayton, Blurring the Line has in the past year become a full-on hard rock / metal band in the old school tradition of twin guitar groups such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.  Hayton sings for the most part in a clear powerful voice seasoned by unique backing vocals  and propelled along by thundering drums and interweaving duel leads.  The overall sound is a modern twist on 80′s metal that is big on power and great on melodies.

Baldwin is the next step in the evolution of former Plaid guitarist  / vocalist Scotty Baldwin.  Heavily influenced by Nirvana, Baldwin looks to have moved from wearing his love for Kurt Cobain on his sleeve into the territory of post Nirvana second gen bands like Puddle of Mudd.  The only difference with Baldwin’s latest trio is that he seems to have finally found a lineup with a generous helping of cohesiveness.  Anyone into any of the “spawn of Cobain” bands that get played regularly on 95 Rock will certainly dig Baldwin.

With the crowd eventually dropped to just the bands and a few friends it was decided that closer Suhgarim would forgo their set in lieu of karaoke and drinks at the Playground.  Good for them as they didn’t have to unload to play for just the sound guy, door chick and the other musicians.  Bad for any of us who really wanted to see them play.

Was the shitter saved?  Who knows but in the end (double pun…score!) a couple of bands rocked the crap out of 7G and all was good…