Seeing Red: Energetic performance receives poor reception

By Nate Seltenrich

Vendetta Red may have started up a vendetta of sorts against Santa Clara red and white during their performance Sunday night at the Leavey Center. The band, opening for headliners the Ataris on the Volkswagen Music Ed. Tour, played for almost 45 minutes, but forged a rift between themselves and the crowd only minutes into their set.

"We drove eight hours to play for a bunch of rich spoiled kids who are just standing there and looking at us?" exclaimed lead singer Zach Davidson to the crowd after its unresponsive reception of Vendetta Red's first song.

Santa Clara students and local youth in attendance followed up with booing and shouting. The crowd, which was divided between those standing on the open dance floor in front of the stage and those sitting to the sides and back on the Leavey Center's bleachers, remained withdrawn and impervious to Vendetta Red's melodic and earnest hard rock sound throughout the remainder of the set.

"When people go to a show to hear a new band play and don't know the songs, they aren't going to be as into it. They're not going to buy a CD of a group that swears at them and calls them spoiled rich kids after their first song," said senior Emily Jamison.

On the surface level, Vendetta Red's performance was clean and high-energy, and the five members - Zachary Davidson on vocals, Erik Chapman on guitar and keyboards, Joseph Lee Childres on drums, Justin Cronk on guitar, and Michael Vermillion on bass â€" seemed determined to salvage the show despite the tension in the air. Davidson flailed and screamed like a true "emo-core" rocker, at one point he rolled about on stage and at others he twirled the mic around in a five-foot circle in front of him. However, even the single "Shatterday," off Vendetta Red's 2003 major-label debut, "Between the Never and the Now," failed to elicit much more than a whimper from the still-offended audience.

"I hope you treat the Ataris better than you treated us," announced Davidson shortly before the band left the stage.

Earlier in the day, Davidson did not anticipate the show would turn out much better than it did. Following a generally disappointing month on the road playing universities across the nation, his low expectations for the evening fueled his frustration and impatience with the crowd.

During an interview before the concert, he expressed a dislike for playing universities because of poor venues and lack of audience interest in the music.

"Half the kids don't even want to be there in the first place. They don't care about the music. They just stand there and stare with stupid looks on their faces," he said.

As they reclined post-performance in their dressing room â€" a baseball locker room behind the temporary stage in Leavey â€" the members of Vendetta Red were disappointed, but not in bad humor. The consensus was that this was the worst reception they had received on the tour thus far.

Following the conclusion of the Music Ed. tour on November 9, Vendetta Red will embark upon their first headlining tour of the United States. "We're a really small band. It's gonna be good to play for really small crowds who know who we are," said Davidson. They will spend a month doing shows at clubs around the country, culminating with a gig on December 12 in their hometown of Seattle, the vaunted musical center of the northwest.

Although they have developed a strong local following in Seattle, a busy tour schedule has prevented Vendetta Red from playing there much recently, and they are looking forward to their homecoming show. Their largest performance in Seattle to date was before 2,500 people at the 2003 Bumbershoot Festival, a music and arts festival that takes place annually over Labor Day weekend.

Since leaving the Seattle-based indie label Loveless Records for Epic Records in early 2002, much has changed with the band. Once the biggest name on an eight-band roster, Vendetta Red are now labelmates with AC/DC, Mandy Moore, Luther Vandross, and about 150 others.

"I used to have to book shows, print our t-shirts, drive our van, and pay for everything. At Epic, a lot of different people have specific jobs. Now we just have to make sure everyone else is doing their job," said Davidson.

However, he also adds that Epic is lax about promoting their shows with fliers and other advertisements. While signing to a larger label may result in convenience and a lighter workload, for Vendetta Red and most other young rock bands it also means less personalized attention.

As a performer on last summer's Warped Tour and with the release of "The Never and the Now," the band's third album since forming in 1998, Vendetta Red are creeping into the corner of the public eye. Producer Jerry Finn (Green Day, Blink-182, Sum 41), who worked with the band on the new album, adds credibility for those in the know, and a music video for "Shatterday" adds accessibility for a mainstream audience.

Vendetta Red have all the groundwork laid for success, but it's up to their music to carry them there. They've already come a long way since ditching their day jobs to live together in an apartment and work on the band early in its life. For a young rock band trying to make a name on a major label, a little humility before a paying crowd of college kids couldn't hurt.

Contact Nate Seltenrich at (408) 554-4546 or at nseltenrich@scu.edu