ANAMIDE
5/17/07
Ram’s Head Live
Baltimore, MD

On May 17, 2007, if you live in the Maryland area & were not down around the Power Plant area, you missed one helluva party night!  As it is, Thursday’s are known as college night in that area, which should be a precursor to the fact that it’s crazy, BUT, add the fact that it was the week of Preakness & there was a slew of FREE events happening the entire week & you get the picture that this was the place to be for fun!

National Recording Act Papa Roach played a free show outside of the Power Plant area, which was basically right outside of Ram’s Head Live, & immediately after that show, there was a free after-party show with local boy’s Anamide!  Anamide are an interesting local band that plays mostly original with a few choice covers sprinkled in just so everyone is happy.  On this particular night, the band played around an hour, & Ram’s Head Live had a decent sized crowd in there for the show. 

The crowd for this show was pretty interesting, because it was a 21 & over show, & to be honest with you, MOST of the crowd looked like they had been partying all night & drinks were definitely flowing both inside & outside the venue!  I was actually surprised more people didn’t come inside to check out the free Anamide show, because the area outside the venue was overflowing with people, but then again, if you’re not familiar with the Power Plant area, on a Thursday, it’s a non-stop party with wall to wall clubs for every kind of taste. 

If you’ve never heard Anamide, they are a mix of Deftones, Staind, & they fall into that genre of nu-metal, sorta...I know that description is a little vague, but that’s kinda how the band is..their singer’s voice is a little higher pitched than the aforementioned bands, & the band itself is a little grittier as well, so I used those bands just to compare sound alone.
One of the more interesting moments in Anamide’s set was when they did a cover of the Marilyn Manson hit, “The Beautiful People”, because this was the first time I’d ever seen the band do that song in their set, & it was good, but to be honest with you, NO ONE can touch Marilyn Manson in terms of sound, performance, or vibe, but Anamide definitely got points for doing that song!  The staple in the bands live show, as of late, has been an interesting Pantera medley that’s usually played towards the end of their set...it’s a mix of “This Love” & “Walk”, & the only thing that’s really missing from their version is the guitar solo’s..other than that, it’s perfect, but with Anamide’s style of music, guitar solo’s are not really part of their sound or style, so I get why they just omitted them.

Anamide are one of those bands that play out alot in the Maryland area, so if you haven't checked out the band, they are well worth seeing if you like good, heavy, modern rock.  Check out their myspace page for play dates & band info at  www.myspace.com/anamide