The Seventh Anniversary Party at Rocketown was definitely a cultural eye opener, especially for a 20-something who doesn’t know much about teens, skateboarding or Nashville’s metal community. All of the kids were dressed way cooler than the kids most of us remember from our middle/high school days, and they also seemed unusually comfortable around violent dancing/moshing/diving, and listening to music they weren’t familiar with, or that wasn’t "cool" to be listening to.
As far as the music was concerned, Social Jetlag, Gnarwal and some other big name metal bands seemed to get the most hype for the evening shows, but the two standout performances were from Kiddo (above photo – formerly known as Out of Order) and Coloroado band Flashbulb Fires. Kiddo is a punk trio that put on an unexpectedly awesome show, considering, as you could probably deduce, all the boys are in middle school. Their setup was extremely tight, blending sounds from the likes of The Ramones, Alice Cooper and The Clash. It was obvious that they had been playing together for a few years. Kiddo was a double whammy. Frontman (boy?)/guitarist Greyson Anderson looked like a mix between the prepubescent Scotty Farkus from "A Christmas Story" and Sid Vicious, what with his coon-skin cap and erratic stage energy. The bassist, Jimmy Grogan, was the doppelganger of Wailin’ Canes’ member Kyle Whalum. This performance also served as the release show of their first EP "Roadkill Whiskey," and while they don’t have any upcoming performances, Kiddo is definitely a band to be on the lookout for in the next few years. Unless they all get fake IDs and start playing shows at The End. – Erin Manning